Frances Mayes
Cat stands at the fridge,
Cries loudly for milk.
But I've filled her bowl.
Wild cat, I say, Sister,
Look, you have milk.
I clink my fingernail
Against the rim. Milk.
With down and liver,
A word I know she hears.
Her sad miaow. She runs
To me. She dips
In her whiskers but
Doesn't drink. As sometimes
I want the light on
When it is on. Or when
I saw the woman walking
toward my house and
I thought there's Frances.
Then looked in the car mirror
To be sure. She stalks
The room. She wants. Milk
Beyond milk. World beyond
This one, she cries.
I love the major transition that takes place throughout this poem. Mayes begins the poem describing a playful, innocent cat asking for milk. The reader initially believes the cat only wants more milk in the beginning of the poem. Through the transition in the middle of the poem and at the end of the poem, the reader learns that the cat is yearning for something much deeper. I believe we as humans can have this same yearning in our lives. No matter where you are in life, there will be times when you wish you lived another person's life. The grass always appears greener on the other side.
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