The Unseen Heart

We don’t see his heart. It
beats in his chest like
ours, it feels pain like ours, it
breaks when we hurt or leave
him, or when he grows
too big or too ugly
or gets too old to play like
he used to. Or when
it costs too much to
keep him or when he is too
much in the way or when
he is too needy and we
are too busy to stroke him
or cuddle him until he
curls into a ball and purrs.
We don’t see his heart.

Odd, isn’t it, that a cat’s
nose is shaped like a heart?
It is how he breathes, how
he survives, how he senses
food and drink and danger.
He cannot live without his
nose. He has no language,
either, no way to tell us his
heart’s needs except through
head bumps, mews and tiny
licks that feel like sandpaper.

With every breath he takes,
his unseen heart beats, too.