sudden and real

You want a dog 

but you are like a cat, 

though you hate cats, 

which is a very cat-like 

position. I want a cat 

but you’re allergic 

so we’ll get a dog 

who will be like me. 

Besides, I realize that, 

having you, I already 

have a cat. You have 

intense fixations, like 

a cat. Though you’re 

tall and strong, you walk 

lightly on the balls 

of your feet, like a cat. 

You’re good at 

everything you ever 

try to do. In your 

reticence you’d rather 

not be written about or 

analyzed, like a cat. 

But you are very good 

to look at, to study, 

in your many moods 

and attitudes, like a cat. 

And your affection 

is sudden and real, 

radiating mystery 

and heat beside me, 

like a cat.

[Laura Cronk, 'Like a Cat', from STATⓇREC]