When we took up residence in a beach place at summers end, it came complete with a charming little black cat, left behind, with four white paws, incredible green eyes and long white whiskers. We tried to adopt her, but she had feline AIDS. This poem is dedicated to Lynn Stitt, her skill and devotion to terminally ill and oft unwanted creatures.

“Please feed my cat,” he petted her, and grinned
“be back for her real soon, when we get settled in.
Don’t get me wrong, I love that cat,
but I’ve got to be a diplomat
My wife seems to have developed an aversion
for ordinary cats since she got a Persian.”

We discerned he would not return,
a summer cat, we would learn.
Abandoned at the summers end,
forced for itself to fend
left to roam in streets and yards
where a cat must always keep its guard

Despite the five cats in our place
that crowded us, not much space.
Once again, we had drifted
into benefactors, as when we were gifted
with a litter brought to our door
in Mystic Isle, where we lived before.
That was how it seemed to tally
so we fed her, named her Maui.
We would adopt her, that inner voice
told us we had no other choice.

Maui, who had just been spurned,
had other plans, we soon learned.
She’d disappear for a day, or week,
making us play hide-go-seek.
Until one day the game was over,
she came to us a bloody rover
lacerated, eyes all scratched,
we did our best to get her patched.
A vet told us he was afraid
that our cat had feline AIDS.
He said, “don’t wait, terminate her,
save the trouble of doing it later”
The charm this little cat possessed
touched our hearts, I must confess.
We took her in; it didn’t elate her
when we had to isolate her.
Not much fun was in store,
one little window and a door
where paws of other cats disclosed
their presence, but the door was closed.

We tried to make her feel secure
but life had lost much of its lure,
dejected, she would lie and dream
of all the things she once esteemed.
Our help was futile, defeat disguised
not what Maui once had prized
But fate sometimes will guide and grace us
it lead us to a great oasis,
where skill and love would brighten days
that lay ahead, just like a maze

Now Maui’s new life had begun
with new friends, napping in the sun,
on a porch, where she could see
the sun was where it used to be,
and a little cat-size door,
so the house she could explore
But the affliction took its toll
she lost her balance and control,
but never lost Lynn’s loving care
her empathy was always there
Bunny and Clyde, her steadfast friends
stayed close beside until the end