Poem of the cat
Maria S. Mendes
The truth is, reading this poem is no trouble at all, because the tone is colloquial and invocatory from the very start, implying the reader with that cross between a rhetorical question and a cry for help which is, if not common, at least perfectly understandable ("Who will open the door for my cat / when I am dead?"). The language is simple, direct, oral like, reminiscent of conversations among pet owners about their animals’ idiosyncrasies ("Whenever he can/ he runs for the street,/ sniffs at the sidewalk/ and backtracks"), although one begins to realise, at a certain point, that this poem may not be about an owner’s concern for his cat’s happiness.
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