A Cat On An Empty Street

A cat on an empty street
Black, or was it a tabby?
I don’t know…
Staring at something, motionless, expressionless
Standing under a vermilion streetlight
Looking, waiting, a darkened stone for a darkened house
A papaya tree companion for a moment in time…

A cat on an empty street
A small silhouette of a forgotten effigy
In the darkness of a peaceful night
In the stillness of a peaceful road

I didn’t know why it stood there
Or what of its thoughts, its heart
Only feelings actually
Of bewilderment and forlorn all in one
Emblazoned for a moment that seemed like eternity
As I cycled my way to have my late dinner

A cat on an empty street
Should I have pitied it? Was it a stray?
Or maybe it had lost its way and now all alone?
To find some mercy and maybe some food?
Why had it bothered me so?

A cat on an empty street
A wandering dreamer on a worn-out bike
A fading dream of a tired destiny
And a longing cry for an innocence…lost

THE SIGN OF SHAIRO
MUAR
31st December 2006