FELINE by John Dorsey

on the day jason baldinger
has to put his cat down
we talk a bit in the morning
but there’s no preparing for this
i think for a second
about the afterlife of cats
& how for nearly nineteen years
she has been the only woman
to stay by his side
through sleepless nights
through sunlight & sadness
in sickness & in health
it’s been a marriage
for both of them
all of the women i’ve ever known
have been feral creatures
who came up short on sweetness
never sitting shiva for a week
or even one lazy sunday
in a vigil for our hearts
never resting close-by
on that final morning
before we parted ways
hoping
for something better.


John Dorsey is the former Poet Laureate of Belle, MO. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Which Way to the River: Selected Poems: 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020), Sundown at the Redneck Carnival, (Spartan Press, 2022, and Pocatello Wildflower, (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2023). He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com.

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