Photo by Zake Tucker
cat habits die hard
Blue remains convinced we've met before
no other lap but mine will suffice
even as a kitten he would not let us leave
the shelter with any other stray but him
he clung to the side of the crowded cage and
meowed till we couldn't ignore him
but not till we at home did this cat act
as if this a long awaited reunion
my mere sitting down: a signal to climb the length
of me to perch and first press whiskers to beard
as if this a ritual habit from our shared past -- one followed
by lavish licking "These the pheromones I crave"
he purrs "That's just weird," my kids have said
from the beginning, "what is it with you two?"
"Old habits die hard," I offer, "obviously our paths have crossed
before." "What?" the usual response, "don't be silly, Dad."
as we age, man and cat, we've become more sluggish and Blue
now meows incessantly at me as if to say, "Sit down already!"
he's less secure and needs me more as if aware the next life
may not include his reunited companion some days it's a bit much
but part of this is my not wanting to become too comfortable with
our arrangement, believing it will cushion the loss
of my habit of cat turns out I'm more aloof than a feline
and Blue perhaps the more humane
The Author
Terry Dawson, a Presbyterian minister who served congregations for over two decades and as a member of the adjunct faculty of San Francisco Theological Seminary, resides in Austin, Texas. There he performs with the multi-cultural poetry, jazz and live painting collective, Five Voizz Brush, and writes a guest column for the Austin American Statesman. His book, "the after: poems only a planet could love", published by Poets Choice came out in the spring of 2022. His poetry, essays and creative non-fiction have appeared in Red Fox Review, Horizons, di-verse-city anthology, Pigeonholes, Courtship of the Winds, Dash, the Texas Poetry Calendar, Ocotillo Review, Talking Writing, Equinox, the Bangalore Review and is forthcoming in Eco-Theo Review.. He received grand prize in the Garden of Poets competition of the Wingless Dreamer Anthology and second place in the Christina Surgeyevna competition of the Austin International Poetry Festival. He was a finalist in both the Chase Going Woodhouse and the Julia Darling poetry competitions and was twice long-listed for the Fish Anthology Prize. He has served as co-chair as well principle writer and editor for the Jazz at St. James music festival for the past five years and has been interviewed and read from his work on KUT and KUTX radio, Austin, New York Parrot TV and the "Diverse Voices Book Review" podcast.
