Six

Photo by Bhoomi

Six | Gowrab Patgiri

My cat’s name is Six.

She watches me from afar

As if I were not her owner

But she was mine.

She purrs whenever she’s hungry,

Making a mess of the walls with her claws.

But her sharp claws recede

Whenever her paws touch my cheeks.

Her slow, gentle pace

Reminded me of my mother

When my health was in grave danger.

She leapt on my bed

When the windows shook and thunder clapped,

Her silky whiskers touched my cheek.

Her soft, quiet purrs calmed my heart.

You may wonder why she’s named Six.

To me, she is the goddess Venus

Who once saved her son Aeneas

From the spear of Diomedes.

But she is not in the living room,

Kitchen or anywhere.

The house is empty without her purrs,

Like a piano without its notes.

I put her Posters here and there,

In the hopes of finding her somewhere.

But I found her near a car,

Holding a four-leaf clover in her paws.

I have a cat named Si… no!

I had a cat named Six,

And she once saved my life.