THIS IS AN ODD COINCIDENCE, but right after posting that poem by Alice Persons, I went over to Dancing with Derrida and saw that Nellie got some very bad news about her and her sister's cat.

It turns out that Lucy has a tumor and she will have to be put down soon. I'm sitting in a hotel room waiting for another call with more news. I'm crying and resorting to writing because it's all I've got right now. I'm crying for a sweet cat that I love. I'm crying for my sister who is having to handle all this on her own. I'm crying for all the love and memories that Lucy holds within her. And I'm crying because I'm so fucking sick and tired of having to say goodbye.

Lucy is really my sister's cat. She found her in a plastic bag outside the Barnes & Noble on a bitterly cold October night. She was about 2 weeks old and barely hanging on. She came into our lives just weeks after we had lost my mom. L and I were living at home with my dad at the time and Lucy was part of our return to living. She became the center of our home, much to the chagrin of our other cat, sweet old Fatty. Where Fatty was a natural born Buddhist; Lucy was by turns anarchic, majestic, haughty and wily -- all depending on her many moods. She became my father's beloved. He coddled and spoiled her; and as he became ill, she became his constant companion and comfort.

I know what it feels like to lose a beloved animal; I'm sure a lot of us do.

Please go over to Nellie's blog and leave some kind words in her Comments. She needs some love right now.