I see two girls, now women, who smile at others
Never at me
Who sour with life’s quick cherry passing
Go off like milk in my refrigerator door
One drip in my tea, no guests to pour out for.
They reverberate like echoes in the stillness of my parlour.
This is a neighbourhood of cats, no barking
No worries about leaving us alone all day
Often all night too
In hungry expectation.
They bring up corpses and track invitations
In the name of reciprocity
Accountancy, curation, careful recitation of moments and pictures
Togetherness invited
Competition launched, jaws that bite
Claws that snatch
Rewrite my story, meekness a grievous flaw,
Passivity, worse – stupidity,
Made to pay,
Trampled to shame
With a flick of a finger.

Exquisitely penned! Loved it!
Thank you – coming from a real poet, I do appreciate that remark!
I really like the layers and nuances in this one, Marina Sofia. And the ‘photo is really effective, too.
Thank you. I was really pleased I found that picture to illustrate it…
Very clever – love the phrase about the neighbourhood of cats!
I love the neighbourhood of cats, too…and the whole poem. It’s nice to read your work again (I’ve been absent for a while).
Lovely to see you back! Are you nearing the end of the school year? Maybe time for your own writing? Wishing you a very good and productive summer…
The school year is over except for three days of meetings and cleaning out rooms and such. Aside from looking for work, I’ll certainly be writing more.