Xenobia, my furry friend

#X

Two sleepless nights have I spent

In search of my tortoiseshell.

All streets and alleys

Scoured have I, and in dismay

My head, I have racked and rent.

But nothing’s come out of

This labour spent.

***

Xenobia, my Turkish cat

Has disappeared, after a spat

With Griffin Fangs- who stole her window perch.

Jealously guarded was this spot,

 For  Xenobia marveled at fleeting birds and myriad raindrops.

Until my waif-like scrawny kitten

Jumped up, one day, and left her in a lurch.

***

Riveted by birds chirping,

Griff trilled and chirped

Pawing at the window pane

Inviting  wing’d ones to come again

She played, forgetting Xenobia’s turf.

Griff with a crashing sound,brought

 Xenobia’s bowl and velvety couch down.

***

Rough play catapulted into a catfight

Griff’s angry howl evoked

An equally ferocious caterwaul.

 They hissed, swatted and  prowled

For days stalking  each other

As the sacred zone had been usurped

Alas, in the catfight Griff stepped up.

***

And out went my gentle Turkish furry friend.

Many days passed, yet Xenobia appeared not

One day in sleep, I heard a soft purr

And a gentle knock at my door.

There stood my starved Turkish tortoiseshell

Scratched, and vulnerable. She’d returned to be held

And fed, and accept Griff’s subservience.

***

© Mumtaz N Khorakiwala

25-1-2021

Picture courtesy: Mevrouw Hatseflats

Unsplash.com