To Read Upon the Death of Beloved Friskey

Tragic a death so young,
Oh, so young,
She was nearly twenty-one.
Brought home like Jesus
In a towel, like my brother and I
Had won, duped our mom,
Our kitten relieved her bowels lightly
In my arms
As if she had known them her whole,
Short life.

She spent her later years
As a fractured cat,
On as many medications as my mother,
Having survived several illnesses:
Kitty diabetes, the way she got so fat
When in college I would stay away
For eight months at a time;
Kitty arthritis, how she battles daily,
Outlining every movement
With a tired feline-line;

There were the years we could not let her outside.

She soon lost her hearing, felt life
Through vibration alone,
And my brother found it darling fun
To raise his voice to her, close by her ear,
As an ignoramus speaks to a foreigner.

At the very end you often saw her
Cat-pawing around the dining room,
Carefully inspecting the floor
Like searching for defects in wood-grain.
Eventually she found a spot,
Hunched her back and,
Looking up, just peed
And scanned the room as if
She needed arms to rest in.