A Cat Adopted Me Today

A cat adopted me today
And for ten minutes
I felt alive.

A stranger jumped
Into a stranger's lap
As though she knew
I loved her.

She tucked one bent paw
Against my arm
And licked and licked and licked.

I haven't got anything for you
I told her
Except strokes and cuddles and smiles
But still she scraped
My arm quite raw
As I wrote.

And she seemed content
To inspire me to remember
This moment with her.

So I put down my pen
And scratched her soft chin
As she sandpapered my body
With her tongue
Which was driving me crazy
And I begged her to stop
While pleading with her
To go on.

But as all things must die
She left me to record
Our meeting so rare
And so brief.

So I try
With limp pen
To believe that I lived
For an instant with something
More special and lasting
Than death.