Remembrance of a Pet

Sadie 1979-1997

 

I've wondered what it means to love a pet.

Some buy or find them—or they find us.

They're pampered, ignored, sometimes mistreated.  We covet

Their worship and their unconditional kindness.

 

My daughter's pet—a Persian cat, with bold

Egyptian eyes of golden agate lined

In black—is aloof and shy, inscrutable—

But our lives are strikingly intertwined.

 

When she lay ill with raging mono's curse,

He stayed unmovable on her bed, a paw

So gently touching her face—a tiny nurse—

Though some would say, "It's just an animal."

 

But could he not have waited to rest unharmed

To breathe his last—protected in our arms?

 

 

Barbara Benjamin

English sonnet

BBP210