In the Quiet, My Cat Heard Me | PeonyMagazine

 

When the year shattered,

And love slipped out the door

with another woman’s name,

And the life I thought was mine 

crumbled into silence.

 

I stopped eating.

Stopped sleeping.

Panic attacks clawed at my chest

until I could barely breathe.

I thought…

everyone will leave me.

 

And then there is Stormi.

My Persian cat.

Soft gray fur,

steady golden eyes.

He never looked away.

 

When I cried until my body shook,

he climbed onto my lap,

pressed close, 

He never asked me to stop crying.

He only said, in the way animals can:

I am here, I am not leaving.

like he could stitch the cracks in me

just by staying.

 

I carried him everywhere, 

Afraid to be without the only one

I trusted not to abandon me. 

People drifted,

Friends grew quiet,

Even family seemed far away.

 

But Stormi stayed.

Silent, watchful,

His little heartbeat steady against mine. 

The kind of loyalty 

I didn’t know I deserved.

They say animals don’t understand heartbreak.

But how else do you explain

A cat who shows up at the exact moment

You think you might disappear?

Who curls beside your tears

And makes the room 

A little less empty?

 

My cat “Stormi” is not just my pet.

He is my lifeline.

He is my friend,

My emotional compass,

My living proof 

That love can be loyal

And soft

And enduring.  

And slowly,

In his quiet companionship, 

I am learning to believe it.

More: https://peonymagazine.com/pets/in-the-quiet-my-cat-heard-me/