| MOTHER LOVE |
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I call her but she does not answer me; She likes to peep at me, just out of view. Is she inside a drawer? Where can she be? I listen for her plaintive Bengal mew; I call her but she does not answer me. I had five kittens only days ago — Four snowy boys, one leopard-spotted girl. But one by one the boys all slipped away Which left this last soft, warm and purry jewel I had five kittens only days ago. I miss the skitter of their needled feet, The way they box and feint and twist and leap, The quiet times when all of us stretch out And they just suck and pad and fall asleep. I miss the skitter of their needled feet. Today some people brought a wicker box; They put me out and firmly closed the door While they talked pedigrees and cheques. Oh, I have lost my little ones before — Today some people brought a wicker box. I search the house and search the house again; She is not under settle, desk or bed. I roll and offer her my teats in vain — There's nowhere else my leopard-girl could hide. But still I search, and search the house again. |
 Ursula Kiernan
is an ex-advertising copywriter and semi-retired psychotherapist.
She lives in the village of Storrington, West Sussex, UK.
She helps with fund-raising for the RSPCA. Mother Love
won first prize in the March 2000 competition organised by
Grendon House. Her
recent collections FISH THAT SING and ANIMALS WITH ATTITUDE
are reviewed at
NHI Review.
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Photograph © Ursula Kiernan, 1999 Photograph © Ursula Kiernan, 2000 Web design by Gerald England Last updated: 24th October 2002. |