Forgive Me, Little One
Oh, precious little creature, mine,
The joy you suffuse my life with is immeasurable!
I pray I convey to you in affection
And inclusion in all my comings-and-goings,
Just how dear you are to this human fool,
For I love you as I love my life -
The life I would give to save you.
Your warm, fuzzy smile is my sun each morn,
And your mischief is my compass ...
We find our way through the days together,
And your soft paws around my arm
Wend me to sleep every eve.
But oh, how my heart grieves so for you!
Oh, how the salty drops have traced my cheek for your sake!
To watch you each day at the screen door,
Or the window sill in winter,
Cracked ever-so-slightly for the air,
So your senses can ply the breeze for all its stories -
All the tales of birds and creatures, huntable,
That you will never chase ...
The butterfly games you will never play ...
The deep grasses that will never brush your whiskers ...
The textures that will never press your pads ...
The trees you will never climb ...
And the adventures that will unfold only in your dreams.
It is a torture that I can never know,
Yet my soul yearns to set your yearnings free,
And my heart aches for the passions and instincts I MUST deny you.
The dangers are too many, my dear little one -
Coyotes, foxes, disease, and a busy street,
All far too formiddable adversaries,
And I am forced, for the sake of your extended life,
To confine you to the world of a house cat,
And it sickens my spirit so,
As I know it crushes yours.
I pray you can forgive me, little one,
And that somehow, in the sincerity of my love for you,
You come to realize that it is JUST that love for you
That binds my wrists ...
That my love for you and your safety
Outweighs your freedom.
Can you tell, little one, by the way I look in your eyes?
Can you tell by the tenderness of my touch?
Can you tell by the way my voice softens
Every time I speak to you?
Oh, how I pray you can,
For I am so heartily sorry, little one,
And I love you so ...
Forgive me.
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