want another bowlful

Sister Cat

by Frances Mayes

Cat stands at the fridge,

Cries loudly for milk.

But I've filled her bowl.

Wild cat, I say, Sister,

Look, you have milk.

I clink my fingernail

Against the rim. Milk.

With down and liver,

A word I know she hears.

Her sad miaow. She runs

To me. She dips

In her whiskers but

Doesn't drink. As sometimes

I want the light on

When it is on. Or when

I saw the woman walking

toward my house and

I thought there's Frances.

Then looked in the car mirror

To be sure. She stalks

The room. She wants. Milk

Beyond milk. World beyond

This one, she cries.