the clowder

mollies and toms

tails vibrating in excitement

ear tuft ‘furnishings’ erect

purring, meowing, speaking

in more than one hundred sounds

cats gather

laughter

laughter is food, drink

shield from human cruelty

my prayer to God

fog dispersal

haiku

whispers strewn by fog

over mist-swallowed friendships

diffuse understanding

dream twelve years later

dream of waiting for my husband

to drive home in his huge log truck

so real, the worry, the longing

to hold him safe

but when he came a great niece

and her husband came so he needed

to tend to them and our moment

put aside, but he saw my smile

i know better

knowing myself unworthy

i find it hard to accept gifts

even the gifts of love and caring

friends and family bestow

but they are hurt when i protest

that i am aware of my shortcomings

my pettiness, my mistakes and

the pain my errors of arrogance

have caused them

but i must smile and accept

though my tears sometimes

betray me and i can only say

what i truly mean

in hugs

down that path

sadness overwhelms, lying down

under the weight of chaos

of knowing that without foundation

of adherence to respect and truth

with the inability to communicate

let alone trust

with the acceptance

of ‘alternative facts’ and unsubstantiated accusations

there will be no security of self

yet we rush to go down that path

though we learned where it takes us

only eighty years ago

disgusted with both of us

despicable him

but frustrated me

unable to communicate

my disgust that his treatment

of persons does not disqualify

him from what had been

a high honor

joy of sharing

talk and laughter among friends

who came to share potluck

and the sound of the ocean

masterful orchestration

hark! nature’s mastery

of the blend of sound

of all the calls, chirps, growls

grunts and roars in a wilds

few if any overlap in pitch, tone, timing

each communication can be heard

by its others

ah! that humans could learn

their true part

two-and-a-half hour party

 prime time family celebration

two generations only; the next is busy

with their own lives

but we find solace in each other

venting, informing, telling tales on each other

and on ourselves

admitting our vulnerability in laughter

but knowing we are heard