you looked so pretty in your cage

big chartreuse eyes

so fat you didn’t quite fit

pretty brown fur at stalemate with thin steel bars

you twinkled like the stars

i picked you out

& i picked you up

the lady looked surprised

“no one has ever picked him up before”

a talkative one, a shameless one

my little foil character

pouncing, bouncing

the gentlest predator

you sneeze for greetings and refuse goodbyes

a witch has her familiar

and i have mine

followed me around you did

for weeks you did not leave me alone

trotting at my heels

a chorus of mewls and meows

you speak to me like i understand

i think i really do

talkative & shameless

i never slept alone once since i brought you home

the most joyous spirit

great statues of hotei take inspiration from your lyric

the papers say i adopted you

but i stand sincere

i think you adopted me

a white whisker and a pink paw

the best listener

as this great big cauldron of life stirs

i can always expect the sweetest of your purrs

i think i now understand why

the ancient egyptians mummify

but i have no doubt

i need no linen, no sarcophagus

when the day comes and my eyes close for the last time

i will open them to you

singing in the space-time

still shameless

and still talkative

behind those big chartreuse eyes

i myself am not quite sure what lies

but you’ve always sneezed for greetings

and refused goodbyes

so tell me this, janī, my familiar

why did you eat the caterpillar?