Dawn's first fingers
reach around our neighbor's house
and stroke the graying slats
of our tool shed.

A small gray cat
pussyfoots her way
up the naked, broken trellis
to the cracked, tacked, faded gray shingles of the roof.
She faces the sun,
raises one paw,
licks it twice,
settles down,
tucks her feet,
half shuts her eyes.
She welcomes dawn's touch.

Lonely,
I fear it.

Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.