my grandmother asks

“do you not like
depending on someone?”

yet my little cat’s
ears prick at sobs
across the room, he
launches from his perch
to cry back
louder in competition
distract from the lie –
a heavy – not
in the chest
and he screams and pulls
the carpet and prances
on my lap
at her
“you’ve been let down, haven’t you”
and
“it’s probably your period”

and I am somewhere
laughing

---

Stasha Cole is a PhD student in literature at The University of Tulsa. She is also the proud editorial assistant for Nimrod International Journal. Her work has been published in Poetry South, Anodyne, Susurrus, Shadowplay, Wild Hyacinth, and elsewhere.