So, I walked into my bedroom and got
punched in the stomach when I realized
that you weren’t really there, on the bed
conspicuously eyeballing me and taking up
as much space as you possibly could; it was a
feline ability at which you eclipsed all others
and after fifteen years by my side, it’ll take
more than a couple weeks to get used
to the idea of never seeing you again;
except in the plastic- wrapped, plain
cardboard box with the yellow sticker
so starkly dominating in its finality and
reminding me how ridiculous it is
that you, of everyone, have been reduced to
the same residue that the rest of us
mere mortals will someday be reduced to.