OUR CAT

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Our cat was seventeen years old.  He was sweet natured and never
bit and only used his claws in extremis.  He was our grand-daughter’s
cat  but along the way of her moving houses, he came to stay with us for a bit and
never left.  He died last year and it’s only now I’ve felt able to write about
him.  I miss him.   He loved his two knitted shawls. 

OUR CAT

We laid him to rest
Next to the fence,
Close to the daffodils.

Brushing the dead leaves
From where we were to lay him.
Carefully placing his bright shawls
Underneath and around him.

Where the snowdrops flowered
To light the way for him.

A fit resting place for a conqueror to lie,
To listen to eternity whistling.

                       ©2024 Gwen Grant.

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12 thoughts on “OUR CAT”

  3. I know exactly what you mean when you say you still feel him around because I’m the same. It’s as if you catch a glimpse of them out of the corner of your eye. Glad you liked the poem. I wanted to pay tribute to that dear, courageous little cat.
    Gwen.

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  5. This made me cry Gwen,
    My wife and I were married 17 years, though we were together longer.
    As soon as she could, when she knew she was ill, she ran away to her parents, in E. Germany. She left specific instructions for “her” grave. Should she outlive her parents, I could bury her where I pleased, in a grave like you describe, but if her parents were alive, she should be buried near them. Her passion was composting and soil organisms so she wanted to return to the earth as naturally as possible. A week before she died, they talked her into being cremated, so she could be put in the family grave which is for 6 urns to be laid neatly together. She didn’t have the energy to argue, or discuss this with me.
    So her ashes are there, in a nice, wooded, but far too tidy cemetery, and rather than being spread to benefit the roses, they are tightly confined in some hateful urn. And I could go and dig this up, but I couldn’t take her away from them.

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  6. I’m so sorry for your deep sadness, Stephen, and for the helplessness you feel about your dear wife’s ashes. Is there anything of hers that you could return to the earth symbolically? I wish I could say something that would be a comfort to you but we have had so many great losses, I know it’s only the passage of time that helps. My thoughts are with you and my hopes for peace for you.
    Gwen.

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  7. Thank you Gwen,
    There’s no need to say anything, I feel the warmth of your intention.
    At the time of her funeral I wanted to plant graves everywhere, but this didn’t really work, but my three gardens, (hers, mine, and ours), were all bursting with forgetmenots, snowdrops, and other bulbs.
    There is a garden at the hospital where she worked, which has been planted out for her.
    and another in a community park near where she worked before.
    But none of these really help.
    I’m looking for another woman, which I think might help, it might even be women. But I will always think of my wife, who, unlike your cat, didn’t mind biting people.
    When we were married, there was a card of useful translations placed on all the tables, on of these was, “Careful, the bride bites” or “Vorsicht, die Braut Beißt”.
    You never know what you have until you lose it, or so it feels for me.
    S.

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  8. Thank you Gwen,
    But there’s no need for you to say anything, I feel the warmth of your intention.
    At the time of the funeral I had the idea of planting many graves, everywhere, but it didn’t really work.
    But forgetmenots and spring bulbs, have been romping around my three gardens, (mine, hers, and ours).
    A garden has been planted at the hospital where she worked, and another, unofficially, in a community park near where she worked before.
    Yesterday, at work I noticed a bird bath that was nearly empty, and feeling her wish, I filled it.
    I will try to carry her with me, but it is my own, edited version of her. As she, as she was, is lost.
    Best wishes,
    Stephen

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  10. She was clearly loved as well as loved by you. Such a privilege for all who knew her. My thoughts are with you and hopes for your future.
    Gwen.

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