that little kitten who loved to yell

i remember begging my dad to get me a cat
"dad, please" i'd say, again and again
eventually, after i wrote an essay, he relented
and we went out to tabby town to pick one out

we came home with io,
a scared black-and-white kitten
who crawled all over me and flexed her claws
up and down my arms.

i remember breaking down, some day after school
in my room, surrounded by math homework i didn't understand
and io, that stupid little kitten who did nothing but yell at people passing by
jumped on my bed and started to play with my pencil.

it was a came of cat-and-mouse, io the cat
and my eraser the mouse.
i didn't finish my homework that day.
io wouldn't leave me alone.

i remember her kneading my arm
licking my face, scratching at my homework
defending me from sine, cos, and tan
that little kitten who loved to yell.
 

Abriatis

NY

YWP Alumni

More by Abriatis

  • i am me.

    it's 12am on nine-eleven-twenty-twenty.
    my name is rowan, and i am eighteen.
    i have struggled. i have cried. i did not think i'd make it this far.
    i did not think i'd do half the things i have.
  • nine-eleven

    to think that i will be a legal adult tomorrow.
    i could vote. i could buy fish at petsmart.
    i could apply to places like aldi's and tractor supply.

    my birthday, for me, has always been tinged with sadness.
  • placidity

    i watch the numbers tick up.
    i read the headlines.
    suny oneonta shuts down for the semester -
    six hundred cases.

    i go outside.
    i see the masks, worn properly or not.
    the spraying of hand sanitizer,