Anne Eyries

Testimony

I tried to write a poem about the signs
the cat identified, the way she leapt
predicting your white space and broken lines,

the smell of dying cells, arrhythmic rhymes;
secrets we couldn’t know, did not expect.
I tried to write a poem about the signs

we misread for affection like the times
she jumped up on your bed and purred, paws pressed 
predicting your white space and broken lines.

Too late we learned a feline sense defines
the final hour, the last erratic breath.
I tried to write a poem about the signs

before the cat moved out, before headlines
accused me too as harbinger of death
predicting your white space and broken lines.

I’ve nothing to confess, my only crime
was saying Yes to your last request –
the poem I write is all about the signs
predicting my white space and broken lines.

Anne Eyries has poetry and fiction published in various journals, including Amsterdam Quarterly, Cosmic Daffodil, Emerge Literary Journal, Humana Obscura, Ivo Review, and The Lindenwood Review. She lives in France.