New Day

By Barbara Alsop

The soft paw strokes my face
purr rumbling like a deep earthquake.
Light through the window announces
a new day, pulling me out of the abyss

of sleep to the scattershot of traffic
and outdoor conversations.
The cats demand food, fight,
stir the atmosphere like a thunderstorm
popping up on a hot summer day.

Do I roll over and dive deep again
or begin the travail anew of getting
through? On my feet at last and
stumbling out to morning ablutions,
cat food cans, a.m. pills, and coffee finally.

And for what? Brilliant sunshine, smell
of fresh-cut grass, silken cat fur under
my hand. Writing flows for a time,
like the river Jordan, or at least a small creek,
before the phone rings and the world intrudes.

About Author:

A 66 year old retired lawyer, Barbara Alsop has turned her wordsmithing to other usages, predominately poetry. She is an active member of the Burlington Writers Workshop, and her poems have appeared in the 2015 Best of the Burlington Writers Workshop and Chantwood magazine.