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"The Cat with Three Legs in the Room" by Mark Brunetti

When the UPS guy comes
the house settles like at night
              when no one comes
to the door
He brings the ashes of one
                           of our cats
in an envelope that looks like
it could just contain the book
of poems I ordered
                      and now today
brings me back to two weeks
ago when I had to decide
to remove
                              your leg
because of your weak heart
And there are always doubts
in any of the decisions
that I have to make
                  about anything
and sometimes it doesn’t
feel right reading these
words in this order
                       I edit myself
on the spot and afterwards
after things have been said
it’s easy to read old words
in front of a group of strangers
but it gets harder to write
                          new words
for the new cats in our room
or the person who wakes up
in this bed every morning

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