An Out-of-This-World Fantasy

When Lillibell climbed onto the moon,
we thought we’d never find her.
She’d vanished uncountable times before
but never ignored the wind’s moaning.
We feared she had plummeted from Halley’s comet
to the mouth of a hungry black hole.
At least, like matter, she couldn’t be destroyed.
(Cats, you recall, have nine lives.)

Maybe she’d tired of mire
besmirching the pads of her paws.
Maybe she hated how sludge smothered dew,
the way lies crushed crystalline truth.
Maybe she dreaded the lightning
hurtling its soul-piercing arrows,
a harbinger, perhaps, of a windstorm in which
even red giants will crumble.

We found her at last when an envious moon
enshrouded the sun’s radiant face.
Illumined by only a halo,
there she was on a pillow of shadows,
curled in a comfortable comma,
lazily pruning her fur.
Here, kitty kitty. Here, pretty kitty,
Can’t you hear the Earth’s
beckoning purr?

Perhaps Lillibell will return
when arrows become pointed words,
when mire morphs into magnolias,
and sludge no longer hides dew.
Then planets will become her stairs
that she can leap onto with ease,
without disrupting the cosmic dust.
(Cats always tread gingerly.)

But for now, she’s content to remain
the runaway cat-in-the-moon.
We call to her, hoping for a mew,
but silence is our sole reply.
We call to the stars for an answer.
But all they do is wink.

Looking for more great cat tails and stories? We love kitties here at the MockingOwl Roost, so, we’ve got some tales to tell.

• The Cat’s Value – Poetry
• Most Entertaining YouTube Channels for Cat Lovers
• Fluff of Delight – A Monologue About a Cat
• Incredible – Creative Nonfiction About Cats
• The Way Cats Wake Up to a Passion of Birds – A Poetry Reading
• Rufus – Pet Poetry

Lynn Hess

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Lynn is a retired middle-school teacher who loved her work and who, for thirty years, also conducted weekly poetry-writing workshops for students in grades K through 8. An educator, a mother of two and a “nana” of three, Lynn especially loves writing poetry inspired by children. Lynn's poetry has appeared or will appear in journals including Spoon River Quarterly, Aeolian Harp, Red Eft Review, Monterey Review, Discretionary Love, and others. Where Tigers Roar in Silence, a book of poetry for children, was published by Lime Rock Press.

• Lynn Hess

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