A 14-YEAR OLD CONVALESCENT CAT IN THE WINTER

Bluhipo just found this and posted it in "General". Thought I would pass it along. roger

A 14-YEAR OLD CONVALESCENT CAT IN THE WINTER
Gavin Ewart


I want him to have another living summer,
to lie in the sun and enjoy the douceur de vivre –
because the sun, like golden rum in a rummer,
is what makes an idle cat un tout petit peu ivre –

I want him to lie stretched out, contented,
revelling in the heat, his fur all dry and warm,
an Old Age Pensioner, retired, resented
by no one, and happinesses in a beelike swarm

to settle on him – postponed for another season
that last fated hateful journey to the vet
from which there is no return (and age the reason),
which must soon come – as I cannot forget.