Jack e Lorts

The Cat’s Peace of Mind Jack e Lorts

“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music & cats.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

At peace on top of the refrigerator or on the foot of the bed, or the left end of the sofa, her mind is on a piece of yellow silk sliding off the shelf of the bookcase, of a coke can on the table near the recliner, or an empty box lying on the floor in the kitchen. I told her of the war in Ukraine, innocence dying. She didn’t care. I told her of George Floyd dying from Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck. She fell asleep. Eric Garner strangled for selling cigarettes; she slept. She considers the squirrels on the birdbath, they don’t belong there. Two humming birds quarreling, she cocks her head. Bread scraps awaiting the arrival of the crows, starlings, sparrows crowding around the feeder, doves drifting down, she observes with interest. Then she sleeps. Coat hanger abortions again in vogue, corruption in the highest places. An epidemic spreads across the world, a million humans die, weekly mass murders. She ascends her stark white kitty condo, and slumbers on in peace.

Jack e Lorts, a retired educator, lives in rural eastern Oregon, where he continues to publish widely, if only occassionally, online and such places as Windfall, Phantom Drift, Chiron Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, Verse Virtual & Verse Daily. His most recent book is The Love Songs of Ephram Pratt, many of which appear widely online.