Paw Pawing a Recommendation

by Christina J. Johns

April 15, 2009

‘Tis magic

when a cat comes creeping and crawling

between the bedclothes and blankets

to paw paw

at the covers

beside your head.

‘Tis magic

because

when my silver grey cat

Little Neal

comes creeping and crawling

between the bedclothes and blankets

to paw paw

at the covers

beside my head

He speaks to me.

He speaks to me

as clearly as if he formed the words

with his own wee velvet mouth.

“I’m cold.”

He says.

“I’m freezing out here. Let me in beside you.”

So I lift the covers

and underneath he slips

fast as a whisper

can dance upon the wind.

And he snuggles

ever so close

to my chest

and lays his proud bony

chin

against my cheek.

And we lay like that.

Silent and peaceful.

Me careful not to move and disturb him.

And when he’s settled

He gives a great galloping sigh

for all the poor wee moggies

out in the cold night.

Sometimes, if I’m lucky

he will slip a muscular little cat forearm

over my neck

and in stretching, cock his paw hand

and pull…

…me to him or him to me

I am never able to tell which.

And in that minute

I think to myself

that I know what it means

to have the golden smile of God

come down upon your head.

And sometimes, we lay like that

and I watch the darkness come to dawn

listening to the song upon his breath

…for the cat has allergies like myself

and does wheeze a bit in his sleeping.

And it will cross my mind

that I have in my arms,

so tight against my chest

that I can feel his little heart beating…

…A wild animal.

For here is one of a species

that in three thousand years of breeding

man has only managed to domesticate

as much as the eyelash of a fairy.

For a cat is not a dog.

A dog, ahhh,

you can mistreat a dog

and it will come sniveling and crawling back to you

asking to be loved.

But a cat?

A cat will eat your food, clean his paws

and walk out your door

over a minor intellectual disagreement.

No, a cat is still a wild thing.

A wee bairn always loves his ma’

at least in the beginning.

But, to have earned

in your life

the love and trust of a cat?

That’s a recommendation

will carry weight;

a thing that might just get you in

should you bring it up

to St. Peter

at the gates of heaven.