Poem – The Calico in Me

The nervous calico is figuring out life.
She wants to relax and be petted.

But she worries about being trapped in the warm house.
A space unworthy for a stray that has been on her own for so long.

Sure she will get into trouble for some unknown offense.
Yet, longing to belong and desperate for touch.

The desire for love is a universal need.
An essential feeling that gives each soul hope to survive another day.

She is in bliss and rolls over … only to fall off the sofa.
But she returns to the hands that reach out and pat the sofa once again.

Inviting her to partake in the abundance of care and soft touch.
Love is a longing, a need, something yearned for in those dark and scary nights alone.

I see in her my younger self, seeking to find where I belonged.
Wanting another to see my value … as something other than what I could give to them.

I too, am yearning for proof that my being and essence is enough.
That someone will just want to be with me in the warmth of acceptance.

We wish to discover that together there is something that emerges.
We seek to find that together the coldness of this world can become less scary.

To really be with another is to fully accept who they are.
Quirks evaporate in the face of acceptance and love.

The calico is learning and so am I.
There is nothing to accomplish together in this moment.

The only requirement is to bask in the softness that each provides the other.
To relish in the wonder that the other just is and to allow gentleness to be the guide.

~Suzanne Wagner~