QUIET NIGHT

It’s quiet tonight,

Just the way I like it;

Not deathly quiet:

The TV in my office provides

A comforting,

Half unattended to

Background drone

That keeps me company

As I putter,

The TV downstairs

Also running

Just in case someone outside

Thinks nobody’s home

And decides to play a little game

Of smash-and-grab.

It’s happened before

So I have learned to take

This urban precaution.

I go downstairs

Time to put the apartment to bed

Double lock the doors

Finally shut off the TV

After I have had my usual

Late night snack:

A cup of Greek yogurt,

Fruit on the bottom, naturally.

And do any dishes

Soiled during the evening.

Have I mentioned

Since I’ve been on my own

I’ve become

A bit of a neat freak?

Something is different tonight-

No cats:

No Peppercorn to beg a bit of yogurt

Spooned out onto the foil top

(He LOVES strawberry!!!)

No Chicklet to play the clown

Craving attention,

Acting as if he intends

To pounce his big brother,

Do his “black panther” imitation

Or whatever else

He thinks himself to be.

Where are my cats,

My companions?

Have they been kidnapped

By aliens, or the guy

Who runs the Chinese take-out

On Hanover St.?

Have they been raptured???

CAT rapture….

Now there’s an

Interesting theological concept.

Hmmmm…..

I decide to do

My irresistible cat summons,

Creep into the kitchen

And open the container of kibble,

THEIR kibble,

Shaking it a little

As I dole out a cupful

To top off

Their already mostly full dishes.

I look over and there’s Peppercorn,

Brownly shaggy, as if waking up

From a big night on the town

He goes to the dish,

HIS dish,

And crunches a couple mouthfuls.

But where’s Chicklet?

Still nowhere to be found

But I’m not going to worry

I expect he’s found

Some warm, dark hidey hole

And his little black heart

Is dreaming up some kind

Of innocent deviltry

He can inflict on his sleeping pa-pa

Sometime when the night is deep

And it’s even quieter

Than it is now.

He’s good at that,

Chip Bergeron

-30 November/1 December 2012