Guilty
By Jackson H. Day, Columbia, 11 July 1976

My cat is angry with me
and I feel guilty

She paces back
and forth
from window to window
door to door.

Her tail flips
from side to side
crackling
with displeasure.

The blue muttering
of her cat's voice
would surely shame
the most hardened
sea-cat.

What right had I
after all
to deprive her
of her prey?
The robin was hers.
She caught it.
She had it.
I took it.

What meanness of my spirit
made me interpose
a wall of glass
between the two?
She was simply acting out
the way of all flesh
before I interfered.
My act
was unnatural.

Now I sit here
glad the bird has flown away
and quite aware
my cat is angry with me
and I feel guilty.

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©1998 Jackson H. Day. All Rights Reserved.

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