In Memory of Checkers (1988-2003)

Furriness Past Fury
or To the Persian... Make much of Time
by Ethan Lewis (my stepdad)

Caught in the August moonlight spangling the porch
My elder feline brings to mind that line
Of Byron's: walk like the night or choose to perch
In imitation of the jays you find
Fearing you from afar, though absent cause
No claws, few teeth left, cauliflowers ears.
Birds' fate at neighbors' paws might lend you pause
To recollect (instinctively) young years
Of prowling, heats that prompted yowling,
Naps under cars or on sunny grass,
Siestas savored like sips of milk, darling
Soft, purring version of an hour glass.
Lovely in these last days as yourself,
Soon into the night's beauty to slip off.