The Empty Space
By Greg Lawson
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

All of God's creatures have rights, a fact that most people don't seem to recognize. This includes both human and non-human animals, but not all of them can speak for themselves.

The Empty Space
By Greg Lawson

In memory of Genghis

I keep looking at the empty space where you used to be
last week before your soul went free

the hair I haven't cleaned up yet
the clean spot on the kitchen floor 
where your placemat used to sit
where I won't be feeding you any more

your water bowl, your favorite toy, 
things left behind that once brought joy

I find myself treading carefully
afraid I'll step where you used to be
Sometimes I see you by the bottom stair
I look again, you are not there

I miss your small cat steps 
across my bed in the dead of night
waking me up long before light
I know I used to complain, 
If only I could feel those soft paws again

Here kitty, kitty,
remind me how it used to be
Here kitty, kitty,
time passed much too quickly

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