A pearl cat
pretends to be a woman;

slides easily through revels
and bizarre human requirements

chasing pictograms
of spiral luna dancers
gnawing through the halls of other people’s lives.

Furious gazers will sometimes speak to her
and demand she do things for them—

she’ll follow the part of me
that is tempting meat

nimble as a sub-human, disfigured,
ripe for dissolution

wandering the pine-tree world
wearing her face of lost renown

and the soul of her remnant self;

a mortal beauty
she can’t let go.

Richard King Perkins II is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He lives in Crystal Lake, IL, USA with his wife, Vickie and daughter, Sage. He is a three-time Pushcart, Best of the Net and Best of the Web nominee whose work has appeared in more than a thousand publications.