The Curious are Staring at my Pussy, who is Staring at the Curious, by Meg Pokrass

The Curious are Staring at my Pussy, who is Staring at the Curious

after Leonor Fini

My pussy is nobody’s fool. This one sits in my lap while I pose for the camera, knowing that nothing is forever. Once, she was a naive little kitten and later, a merry old cat. Today, she is a middle-aged vixen who likes to be photographed. Today, she loves me more than she loves my lovers. 

To appease her, each of my lovers must present her with a story about their favourite cat. 

“Don’t bother with flowers,” she says, “just tell us your best cat story.”

While they drone on and on, we prune them for fleas. 

While they babble, we torture with bites. 

My pussy offers them one tiny, bleeding mouse as a final door-prize, and they nurse it back to health.

Meg Pokrass

Meg Pokrass is the author of 8 flash fiction and prose poetry collections. Her work has been published in hundreds of literary journals and in three recent Norton anthologies of the flash form. She is the Founding Editor of Best Microfiction.