“The Cat’s Meow”
Do you want food or do you
want water?
How about I give you
both at the same time?
Maybe that will keep you
from destroying everything.
My dad once demanded that I stay away from the ally cat outside my window. I thought it belonged to a neighbor, so I was more interested in petting the cat than listening to my parents. I reached out to pet the cat, and it latched onto the tip of the ring finger on my right hand, and pulled the skin straight off. Karma. I should have listened. Or been more careful.
I should have known that some kitties are off limits.
In Juliette Sebock’s How My Cat Saved My Life & Other Poems, cats are metaphor for all things everywhere. They are our pain. Our love. Our fight through relationships when we can’t do it ourselves. They need food and water and shelter but don’t always have that option – even if they’ve been there for years. Sometimes they are left outside in the rain. They are neglected. Left in crates and closets and boxes.
Cats know the truth. They are stage manager, author, narrator, confidant, and cuddler. Taylor Mali writes about “Falling in Love is Like Owning Dog,” but Sebock takes it one step further to tell us that life itself is more than owning a cat – it’s sometimes living through it’s eyes.
Purchase your copy of How My Cat Saved My Life & Other Poems from Bottlecap Press.