The cat man of Aleppo (1)

With milk on the chin and feathery lip,

(uncoiling, to show him)

she mews, & rises misty-nosed, too

because he'd like

to say bye

But she turns the tension into a nap,

into a gristly nap:

so he can easily bear the milk on a cat’s lip,

(coiling, to show him )

before she dies