Felines
What were they doing,
those two silly black cats,
the perfect accessories
to my boyfriend’s austere town home:
white carpet, white walls.
They could hide nowhere really,
so it was no wonder they were
thoroughly enamored with the dark
musty space underneath
where the new bathtub was being put in.
When the plumbing was completed
and the walls finally sealed up,
they’d both lounge in the bathroom
and mourn while we brushed our teeth.
When it didn’t stop after a few weeks,
I began to wonder if they had stashed
corpses of birds or mice or maybe had
erected an altar and were devastated
at no longer being able to worship
their cat-god in private. But then
I thought, Silly human,
cats pray to no one.
Shannon Phillips is a mom, poet, and editor who runs Picture Show Press and a moon of one’s own.
All rights © Shannon Phillips
*Previously published in Vamp Cat.
Beach Chair Press 