It’s so ridiculous,
+++comes over me suddenly
+++like a storm.

I want to fight with someone,
+++shout at them
+++to give him back.

Intimacy
+++on the order of
+++another husband lost.

A cat is not just a cat
+++when you’ve
+++fed and groomed and
+++nursed him for years.

Sat with him,
+++changed your whole house
+++just so he could get around.

Sat grieving with him still alive
+++very much
+++alive with you.

Held and petted him
+++that last
+++morning

Like
+++another
+++husband
+++lost.

Image: “Shadow 2015,” by Mike Shell (5/30/2015).