Sanctum revisited 2013-09-30

A quiet glade, a starlit sky;
my cat beside, the lake so calm -
this place I made, ere I was I,
and there I went for quiet balm.

There too I went to bury him,
to mourn the self whose death made me;
still calm it was, though tinged with grim;
new flowers grew beneath the tree.

Each year I'd come, commune again —
seek peace, give thanks, and rest my head.
The years went by, and 'twas as Then,
the valley lush, the grass my bed.

Last week I went, saw from the crest
grass brown, light dim, black sky, cold air;
beside where once I laid to rest,
a fresh dug grave, its headstone bare.

Before it knelt a man in prayer;
the grave his own, to fill in time.
Curled by his side, my cat lay there,
gaunt face towards him, no longer mine.

His plea was plain: to let him die,
and lay him, too, by that still lake.
I knew not how I could comply,
so in distress, I fled awake.

Some day, perhaps, he'll have release
though it may mean my death in turn;
May my replacement, too, find peace
amid our glade, with blooming fern.