I didn’t intend
the scare the cat,
but I seem to have
and that is that.
She sits there purring
and looking baleful:
if I do it again
there’ll be a jailful
of me, quite unable
to scare gray pussies
even if I wanted,
for she’s no sissy!
It all started
with my sleep apnea;
the doctor prescribed
a mask, CPAP, by name:
it has a hose
and a purring machine:
I sleep more like an alien
than my cat’s ever seen.
She used to sleep
near, on my pillow, in fact;
but now she’s a stranger:
a stay-away cat.
I wonder sometimes
if it’s just the purring
that makes her think CPAP
is something quite foreign.
Or maybe it’s jealousy
makes her think
it’s a robot that sings
as I catch forty winks.
Whatever the cause
it makes me so sad
to be scaring my kitty
’cause I’m her old dad.
