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
This poem is beautiful … sad, yet oddly hopeful! The animals we love live forever, happy and healthy, in our hearts.