2 minute read
WELL DONE! Black Cat by Yana Kane
Black Cat by Yana Kane
Cat.
Feral black cat.
No name that I know of,
no name that I would presume to bestow.
For ten years I have addressed him
by his title:
“Cat”.
Sometimes he comes by for a leisurely visit.
He meows, I sing-song: “kitty-cat”.
His four paws step delicately in a single line,the tail flicks my knees.
As I stroke his slick arched back,
he weaves infinity signs
around and around my ankles —
a hypnotic ritual of joy.
Sometimes he shows up
skittish, bristling,
not wishing to be touched.
He eats the offered food quickly,
silently melts into the night,
black into black.
Sometimes he meets me
as I am taking a walk in the evening:
emerges from the cover of a bush,
follows me to my house,
flickering out in the shadows.
Sometimes he appears on my porch
night after night, for a week.
Sometimes he is gone for a month or more.
I fret, walk around the neighborhood,
pausing by every promising bush,
calling him, knowing it is in vain.
His comings and goings are not predictable,
are not governed by my concerns.
It would be a human conceit
to imagine that the cat intends
to teach me non-attachment.
But I learn, nonetheless.
In the supermarket,
I pack seven cans of “seafood dinner” into my bag.
The purchase is an act of hope.
I have not seen him in weeks.
The cashier asks with genuine interest:
— What kind of cat do you have?
— I do not have a cat.
Responding to her unspoken question,I add, wistfully:
—This is for a friend.
She stares, perturbed.
I wade deeper into the truth:
—My friend is a cat.
Yana Kane was born in the Soviet Union and came to the US as a refugee at the age of 16. She holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, and a PhD in Statistics from Cornell University. Recently, she wrapped up a successful technical career, retiring from Comcast as a senior principal engineer. Currently, Kane is pursuing a Creative Writing MFA degree at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she has been awarded the Mitch and Lynn Baumeister Scholarship. She has a double major in Literary Translation and Poetry.Kane's recent poems and prose in English have appeared in “The Red Wheelbarrow”, “Platform Review”, and “Verse Virtual”. Her recent bilingual Russian-English poems and poetry translations from Russian into English have appeared in 128 LIT , EastWest Literary Forum, and "Точка.Зрения" / "View.Point" (litpoint.press). Kane's work was recognized by "Точка.Зрения" / "View.Point" as among "Best of 2022" in the category of "Literary Translation."
