Fanfare please: Today's post, "I Guess I Own a Cat Now" by Mandy Brown marks the 1001^st post on Writing In A Woman's Voice (not counting prize repeats or editorial posts). Thank you all for your beautiful 1001 nights and days of women's voices. And, yes, there is a $91 prize for today's post. Interestingly enough 1001 is a multiple of 91, so the mystery of 91 (see Moon Prize) continues.

I Guess I Own a Cat Now

by Mandy Brown

Change chose me like a housecat,

made herself comfortable under

my bed. She did not pause

for me; she knocked down

mugs and books and

pictures. She brought me

dead things—a mouse, a bug, a lizard

as a punishment or reward or

lesson. I am never sure

if she even likes me or my family

or my friends, but I am learning

which meows are hunger or

pain or boredom. She will not let

me sleep in or pee alone or play

with her until she’s ready.

I am told things come to pass

in threes, but I cannot remember if

you were the one who left

the front door open or if that was me.

Sometimes Change presses

into my chest at night until I cannot

breathe. Sometimes she plays

with me until I bleed. Sometimes
she curls up on my lap until

I am afraid to move. Her stillness
is so rare, but so is mine. I wish
to be at peace with me, also purring.

* * * * *

Mandy Brown (she/her) is a queer Central Texas poet, a 2019 Poetry Half-Marathon winner, and the 2013 recipient of A Room of Her Own Foundation's Tillie Olsen Fellowship. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Vine Leaves Literary Journal, Writers Resist, Eunoia Review, and more. Mandy currently teaches at an alternative school for high-risk students and loves it! Read more at mandyalyssbrown.weebly.com.