frantic little cat, my most insistent cat when I write you settle in my lap on top of my laptop, an arching purring ur self, these are your words, cat speak, body in the bend of mine face in my face, nose pushing my nose, in & out of the shower, head wetter than mine, your own towel between times skidding through the side porch flying rugs across floors, howling out of sight until at last you hone your claws on sisal leap to your high bed where you curl & slump like your sister, so still upstairs on the spare bed I think she might be dead, Alice, I say, she bares her belly, curls to my hand, it’s enough to skip the romp her downstairs brother lives for