Aabye's Baby
MOTHER LOVE
I call her but she does not answer me;
She likes to peep at me, just out of view.
Is she inside a drawer? Where can she be?
I listen for her plaintive Bengal mew;
I call her but she does not answer me.

I had five kittens only days ago —
Four snowy boys, one leopard-spotted girl.
But one by one the boys all slipped away
Which left this last soft, warm and purry jewel
I had five kittens only days ago.

I miss the skitter of their needled feet,
The way they box and feint and twist and leap,
The quiet times when all of us stretch out
And they just suck and pad and fall asleep.
I miss the skitter of their needled feet.

Today some people brought a wicker box;
They put me out and firmly closed the door
While they talked pedigrees and cheques.
Oh, I have lost my little ones before —
Today some people brought a wicker box.

I search the house and search the house again;
She is not under settle, desk or bed.
I roll and offer her my teats in vain —
There's nowhere else my leopard-girl could hide.
But still I search, and search the house again.

URSULA KIERNAN
Photo of authorUrsula Kiernan is an ex-advertising copywriter and retired psychotherapist. She has published three full collections: FISH THAT SING, ONLY SICILIAN LEMONS and HOUSE OF THE LEFT-HAND DOOR. All available at £4 each from the author at 16a Lower Street, Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 2BL. The Aabye's Baby Archive
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Photograph
© Ursula Kiernan, 1999
Photograph
© Ursula Kiernan, 2000
Web design by Gerald England
This page last updated: 12th November 2006.