The Shadow at My Feet

Oh Sufi curled up sleeping next to me,

You have filled my home

With meows and yowls,

And the patter of paws

Running up and down the stairs.

Shadow at my feet,

In two short months,

You have changed my life.

Seven pounds purring on my shoulder,

nibbling at my nose

And licking my chin.

Your signal to hug my neck

Full-bodied charcoal grey and white

When the alarm clocks sounds.

Then attack the cardboard toilet paper roll

as if it were a mouse, fly or spider.

My reason to go home

After a long day away.

You wait at the door

So silent and still.

You roll at my feet

Then run at full-speed

leaping through the air

Over the back of the couch

Landing perfectly,

Tail high, eyes wide and clear

Next to the empty bowl.

As timeless as time,

Cliched as a daily cartoon,

This dance of cat and woman.

We are spirit and soft,

Warm and tough,

Frantic and calm.

You scratch the post, the chair, the bed,

My shoulders and chest, my hands and legs

All marked with red lines.

We are blood sisters now.

A tetanus shot is in my future,

A nail trim is in yours.