Gita Janaki writes

ILLUSION

The kitten believed that
water is blue
and fish are birds
flying in water.
He had read so in his mother's diary,
and believed.

Sitting on the window sill,
he watched the blue sky
and the birds flying in the sky.
Ah fish in water!
Catching fish
is a basic instinct of cats.

The kitten jumped to catch a fish
He fell down from the heights
His fours failed him,
and he slipped into a dream
of blue waters, in a pool of
red water, down below.
Cats never commit suicide,
and it was unthinkable for a kitten.

What he never knew was that
his mother wrote poems.

The One that Got Away -- Diane Hoeptner