astray

There is a definite hesitation to her actions, as if she were continually talking herself into or out of them, but when she finally leaves the parchment remains, though unsigned.

AStray

I see you.
Our paths cross and you grin at me and I smile back
And then we separate and go our ways,
Each caught up in our own most separate worlds
Only to circle each other now and then
As in a dance.

I watch you.
You trot along the well worn paths,
The same you traveled since I’ve known you,
Unchanged through all the changes,
Whatever happened as if it never had,
You seem the same.

You know me.
Or seem to, but you know so many,
They greet you with kicks or pats or bones,
And almost you treat them all alike
As if it doesn’t matter which it is,
All just a game.

I know you.
But not enough, I know that much,
And not enough to want to watch you feed
For fear I’d snatch your prey away
And then you’d snap at me as well.
You’d better.

It isn’t pity.
It isn’t - whatever else it is -
And nothing seems to fit it anyway,
None of the words I play with seem to work
To label it to make it safe to touch
Or clearly not.

You’re out there
Seen through the window in the rain.
Inside it’s warm and dry and home although
No picket fence, the garden still to plan.
But you are of Anubis’s breed and I -
I have a cat.