Mutual healing

Hi friends,
Love of animals is a later life gift for me. It’s amazing how we can be compassionate healers for one another. Last week I saw a pic in the NY Times of an American woman’s “trophy kill” of a beautiful giraffe. She leaned proudly against his body with her long rifle. There’s protection of species, but more there’s love of animals when we can. What’s best for them? Here is a photo of Peggy with our beloved Cat Max from 2018. Best, Gene

Mutual Healing with Max

We’ve been bedmates for eighteen years,
Siamese Max and I, from his earliest days
in a distant Georgia trailer
where he said: “Adopt me, you’ll be glad.”
Little did I realize his poetic soul,
baritone voice and playful tricks.
Now we both stand against cancer,
mine seems tamed, his a present struggle.
During my recovery, he knew
I needed the medicine of touch,
so he lay on my chest giving injections
of deep sound and kneading paws.
During a long academic career,
I didn’t learn the art of body listening.
Now I try to interpret his statements,
gait and the look in his eyes.
Is he sick or just pulling my leg
to obtain a morsel of almond butter?
Now he lets me apply cannabis salve
without worry about addiction or the law.
Scientific medicine offers marvels,
but it disparages what can’t be measured.
Each morning it’s a blessing to feel the gift
of his purr and our breath as we wake.

–Eugene C. Bianchi, Athens, GA, June 26, 2018