Under the weight of a distant gaze

I know she watches me, I feel the weight of her gaze as I stumble clumsily through life

In her eyes is both the child I was and the last breath I will ever take

I am here, in this loud and exquisite place, while she now exists in celestial silence

She is not alone, there are others with her who each hold a piece of my heart

And to think, these gorgeous creatures are but the vanguard of those who wait for me

But for now, my living spirit desires the waking world and the glory of its pleasures

So there she sits, within my childhood periphery, ready to pounce and kiss me across into heaven

Ps. This poem was written about my first cat who was simply called "Puss". Mum says she wandered into the kitchen as a semi-feral kitten when I was a baby and she passed away around the time of my eighteenth birthday.
However, a few months ago I gathered all my precious photos of her ready to scan and err... now, I can't find them! Therefore, until I do, I've used as illustration, a recent Instagram photo of my current feline master, and RSPCA rescue cat, Bertie.
I love the idea that when my time in this life comes to an end and I enter my very own particular heaven, I will be greeted by my own loved and lost, and trotting ahead of them, will be all the cats I've had over the years, haughty Puss, glowering Marlon Savage, gentle Kallikrates, Tootsy the eternal kitten, adventurous Aditu [aka Toods] & the proud beauty Isadore <3