Late in life they fell in love,
Tom and Roger.
Battle-scarred Tom yowled,
hissed, slashed at everyone.
Roger hobbled on wounded feet,
threw acid words at kindness.
Every night they slept entwined,
woke up happy, one purring,
one wearing fresh scratches
like new-minted medals.
Penelope Moffet is the author of the chapbooks Cauldron of Hisses (Arroyo Seco Press, 2022), It Isn’t That They Mean to Kill You (Arroyo Seco Press, 2018) and Keeping Still (Dorland Mountain Arts, 1995). Her poems appear in many journals, including Calyx, Eclectica, ONE ART and Vox Populi. A full-length collection of her poetry will be published by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions this Fall.
