“jealousy turning saints into the sea / swimming through sick lullabies / choking on your alibis”

[larryhammer]

For Poetry Monday:

“my cat is sad”, Spencer Madsen

my cat is sad.
no one else in his family is a cat
we are all human except for him
he is excluded from most things
and no one tells him why
he just wants to play
and be loved
he looks at us with wonder
and disappointment
he says hello i am a cat what is my existence
what is that / why it and not me / please can you look at me and love me too
can i have some of your food please im sorry i dont like my food so much
do you want to play with my toys? this one is my favorite
do you like me
are we brothers
why didnt i grow up
why am i so small
can you help me be happy
where are you going


Madsen is a Brooklyn-based writer who identifies with the New Sincerity movement. The poem is from his 2010 collection A Million Bears and first went viral in 2013, and has recirculated a few times since then (often under the title Untitled (“Sad Cat Poem”)).

---L.

Subject quote from Mr. Brightside, The Killers.

Comments

[umadoshi]

This poem comes across my radar periodically and I love it and my completely breaks my heart every single time. ;_; I just want my cats to be happy!

[larryhammer]

It ... packs a punch.

[drpanda99]

This is a new-to-me poem and it's so lovely and heartbreaking! Thank you for sharing it. My cats have always been important members of my family, especially now that I consider my own two cats my dependents lol. I always wonder how to get my love across to them when there is no shared language, but hopefully my kitties understand that I'll always care for them.

[larryhammer]

We haven't yet shared it with Eaglet, who is ... very attached to our two cats and considers them full members of our family, and spends significant time loving on them. We suspect the cats have gotten at least part of the message. We fear at least part of the poem is true regardless.