if you’ve ever held a purring cat
on your lap
without your arms,
simply the cat’s choice
to stay,
to head-butt into your outstretched arm
(which is diligently writing poetry
running
full-force
into the second week of this)
then you know what pure joy feels like;
the purrs calming your anxiety riddled body
the head-butt feeling like
you are the purveyor of all that is good
in this world,
you are the protector
of this cat
(even though, most likely, it is she who is the protector of you.)