within the dapplings

At the bottom
Of my garden
A tree grows up
It waits

It asks nothing
Bar for time

It just exists
It is not mine

On the gate
Beneath its shadow
A cat sits
All alone

He licks his paws
In lazy silence
This cat
He shares my home

He does not care
Or even see me
Within the dapplings
Of my tree

He seems to wait
For something other
This cat does not exist
For me

In the graveyard
By your tombstone
I think that now
I finally see

I'll know you ever
As loved son
But you did not
Exist
For me

You'll live forever
Out in time
You'll still grow on
But not
As mine

M P 2/2/22