appealing

The Maynard
Fall 2018

Brianne Battye
0:00
 
 

Dust

One porcelain cat begets more porcelain cats:
the latest a stray from the garage-sale free table,
bright eyes and stippled orange swirls.

How many cats say, at least she’s easy to buy for?
How many cats watch The Price is Right when she’s home sick?

Cats roost toe-to-tail, uncomplaining:
Better than being left in the rain.
Better than being wrapped in newsprint, stuffed in boxes, left in basement corners with hoola-hoops
and weather-bleached plastic reindeer.
Better than a landfill.

How long are decades in porcelain cat years?
When the cousins take the silver and electronics,
how many dust-glossed eyes will watch from corner shelves
and think, what now?