She Is Gone And I Buried Her

My Cat Died Long Ago, My Current Cats Are Alive And Well. Honoring The Great Pablo Neruda Based On His Poem 'A Dog Has Died'



A Cat Has Died
By La Belle Rouge


My cat died
I buried her in the garden
next to the red camellia

Someday my ashes may join her there
but she’s gone now with her sleek fur
her elegant walk and pink nose
and I, the mystic who has wondered
about rebirth or heavens of bliss
for human beings
now I believe in a heaven, not for me
but for all sleek fat cats
where my cat will wait for me to arrive
blinking her golden eyes in rapport.

I refuse to speak of earthly sadness
of having lost a friend, companion.
She was goddess, never servant.
Her bond with me was like a queen
holding court over her loyal subject.
Allowing the touch of my hands
upon her royal person only as she requested.
She never tore at my stockings
or sullied the furniture with dirty paws.
Her intimacy was given as the supreme favor

She used to lie stretched on my bed
with slanted, alien eyes of ancient wisdom,
gazing at me, giving me the attention, consideration
I needed, enough to make a self centered person
understand that, as a goddess, she was wasting time.
With those eyes so much wiser than mine
she’d continue to gaze at me
with a look that she gave to me alone
all her elegant, independent life.
Always near me, never a bother
asking nothing at all.

How many times I evied her agility
as she walked over the tables and chairs
and around curios, never breaking anything.
Her company warm and royal
when winter kept us fireside.
My sleek, brave kitty jumping at shadows
attacking dust bunnies under the bureau.
My majestic cat, playing the lioness
face to face with a dangerous mouse.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
as only cats know how to be regal
with only the audacity
of their independence of spirit.

There are no farewells for my cat who died.
We were always truthful with each other

So now she is gone and I buried her
and it is finished....



7/15/2006 La Belle Rouge


Music "Nature's Lament"