divets

My wife and I
have two cats
Callie, who eats herself sick
and Lucy, the runt of the litter Callie had
we assume.
Lucy came to us
barely a year old
small
but not feeble
black
with eyes that reveal
a soul that knows more than it lets on
a heart that has been broken
she understands
she has seen things
she won't tell us what they are
but she quickly grows tired
and skittish of the love and affection
we all know she so desperately wants.
Because she never grew to the size of a full cat
she can't groom herself properly
and she hates being brushed
so we have mastered
the art of holding her down with one hand
and cutting the sticky, thick mats of fur
behind her head
between her shoulder blades
while she screams
she dislikes being held in any way
she screams
as if we are trying to kill her
she doesn't seem to understand,
as we do
it's for her own good.