Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: SOUL / SOLE (03/02/23)
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TITLE: A Tiger For Lily | Previous Challenge Entry
By Vicki J. Cypcar
03/08/23 -
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She can hear beyond the veil
A chorus of angels singing
She can faintly see
The flowers dancing
In the heavenly breeze
For the first time
After years of suffering
Rose can imagine her life
Without pain
Without crushing fatigue
Without transfusions
It all looks so perfect
And yet her soul
Is bound
Still tethered
To her diseased human form
In a comatose state
It is the
heart-wrenching prayers
of her twin sister Lily
Pleading for her to stay
That keeps her here
***
Farmer Donovan
Enters into Rose’s
Fragmented mind
Recently his mama barn cat
Had kittens
In his tool shed
All spoken for
But one
The puny striped one
In her mind's eye
Rose sees the old farmer
Sitting fireside
His petite wife
Knitting
As he finishes his slice
Of rhubarb pie
Suddenly
He looks to Myra
And smiles
That runt kitten!
The tiger-looking one
When he’s old enough
I’ll take him to Lily
Poor girl is
All tore up
About losing her sister
Myra smiles
As soon as the words
Are uttered
A wave of relief
Sweeps into Rose’s spirit
She opens her eyes
To lovingly gaze
At Lily
One last time
And with a faint smile
Etched on her face
She peacefully passes
Into eternity
***
In the wake of loss
Lily is paralyzed by grief
She rarely gets out of bed
Her favorite plaid pajamas
Are now threadbare
Nobody seems to see her
Alone in her room
In her chair
Staring out the window
At the leafless
Bradford Pear tree
Every day
Her only purpose to rise
Is to fill the empty bird feeder
The rain has been torrential
The winter bleak
But she still ventures out
In her pink galoshes
Fueled only by day old coffee
The birds chatter
As she fills the feeders
Then her day is done
By 8:00 a.m.
She eats a cold pop tart
The kind with sprinkles
And returns back to bed
She stares at
Her favorite photo of Rose
Until sleep subdues her
And ushers her back into
A dark and silent abyss
A welcomed respite
For her weary mind
***
Until today…
While feeding
The frenzy of birds
Farmer Donovan approaches
He hands Lily a box
A small striped kitten
Peers out
His blue eyes
Watering in the
Bright sunlight
Lily reaches into the box
The tiger kitten
Grasping her fingers
With tiny white paws
She notices
The black pads
On the soles of his feet
He’s adorable
He looks like a tiger
But her smile quickly ebbs
Because grief makes
A smile feel foreign
And wrong
But Lily remembers
How much Rose loved
Tabby cats best
“He needs you.”
Farmer Donovan
A man of few words
He turns
To walk back home
His pudgy Blue heeler Ike
Waddling beside him
***
Once back inside
The last can of tuna
Served on a paper plate
Does suffice
The small creature
With the now bulging tummy
Sleeps soundly
Wrapped in a dish towel
Tucked inside the box
Once inside her car
Lily grows anxious
She has not driven
Since the funeral
The car starts
Her heart races
Anxiously she ventures out
Into the cruel world
A world
With Rose
No longer in it
The outing is a success
She gathers a plethora
Of kitty items
And even a few groceries
Not pop tarts
Once back home
She places Tiger
In the cat carrier
They head to the vet clinic
The staff is relieved to see her
Emerge from her seclusion
She has been missed
So much that
She is offered her job back
Peering down at Tiger
She knows
An income is a must
Besides
She doesn’t want to
Forfeit her family home
Filled with memories
***
The Bradford Pear
Is now in full bloom
Tiger is nearly a year old
And likes resting on
Lily’s shoulders
When she sits
After a long day of work
It’s the good kind of tired
The kind of tired
Caused by living
And not wasting
The day away
As Tiger purrs
The sweet healing frequency
Flows gently
Into the cracks
Of Lily’s once shattered heart
She realizes
That as a twin
She is forever intertwined
To her sister Rose
For all eternity
And no doubt
This tiger striped cat
Was heaven sent
To help mend
Her hurting heart
And resurrect her soul
Back to life.
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