Oh darling cat,

Now I am living

Hundreds of miles away

From where we

Shared our days,

And you will never appear

On that stoop again,

Never again scratch at that latch

My golden rainbow

Striped feline friend.

You did not die for me

It is not my fault you died

You died because you were alive

You died because you were

You died because

Your living and dying was

Cut short

Condensed in relative time

And from mine.

But here I am

Here I am letting you go,

I am letting you go

That way your free will wandered,

Gone from this form of being

Gone from this form

Gone from this

Gone.

Those sacred cat bones never found,

I never found

Your remains,

But I know,

I know your heart stopped beating

Blood in your veins

Flowed out

Till eventually nothing remained.

 I am letting you go

But never will you be forgotten

For you live within me

And O darling cat

I am living.

©  Susan Lynn Gesmer, The Cat Poems, V. Here I am Letting You Go De-Parted From Flesh And Bone Of Discord, 1981