Midnight at the computer
An A. M. deadline
My cat keeps close watch
Muscles drawn taut, motionless
But for twitch of tail
Tremor in eye matching my hand movements
I tell her no time, no play
But a higher power speaks louder
An inherent habit of hunt
commands her to come in for the kill
Continually
I’d blow my deadline
before offending the feline Deity
So I put on a shredded gardening glove
And continue to maneuver clumsily
the computer’s right hand
Cursing the person who told her
it was a mouse
Ellaraine Lockie is widely published and awarded as a poet, nonfiction book author and essayist. Her fourteenth chapbook, Sex and Other Slapsticks, was recently released from Presa Press. Earlier collections have won Poetry Forum’s Chapbook Contest Prize, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Chapbook Competition, Encircle Publications Chapbook Contest, Best Individual Poetry Collection Award from Purple Patch magazine in England, and The Aurorean’s Chapbook Choice Award. She also teaches writing workshops and serves as Poetry Editor for the lifestyles magazine, LILIPOH.
