The cat's cry

I heard a cat cry. Plaintive notes. Like a violin’s scream. It was almost dawn. The death of night. I heard a cat cry. It sounded like any of us.

When I was young I would cringe with fear. Like a balled-up kitten. Like wool. A string would stretch. Its lint would fall. The wool too wept.

I did not see that cat for days. Months.

Then one day it was on the ledge of the parapet in the building where I lived. Its paws waiting to jump. It saw me. Our eyes met. Hers green like grass. Mine brown like mud. They rolled into each other’s sockets.

Our tears became one.