my cat is not so black as the Night Sky,
there is earthiness within him,
though since he made a ghost bird in my bed,
Lizzy has said     each
                              white
                              Star Needle hair on him is
the memory of something he’s killed
or that                  each
                              white
                              Moon Braid hair is
a secret, but what secrets could he wield? after
all,
when there are no ghosts about the bed,
each sickled paw releases
the violence he’s clawed inside.