Ode to an orange tabby

I remember raging at the moon.

How could she let this happen to me?

My heart broke even harder than it did that day in March.

I cursed her and swore I would never forgive her.

“How could you?” I whispered into the night sky, “how could you do this to me?”

Life was going so well.

“How dare you!”

I keened in my kitchen; inconsolable.

Wailing and clutching onto anything that would keep me upright.

Trying to breathe.

My eyes swelling from the tears that would not stop.

Now, the tears come unexpectedly.

A stray piece of his fur on my winter coat.

A large gust of wind.

I miss him.

I miss the way he smelled and the bond we had.

I miss his swinging belly and his tiny meow.

I miss his snuggles.

And I miss the way he loved me.