DEATH Poem: My Pet Star, by Ian Bruce Johnson

Our cat died tonight
The last of many losses
The sweetest cat we’ve ever known
But she was old
And old cats die.

We agreed we would never
Have another pet;
Losing them is too hard
And it would be hard
For our next pet to lose us.
Old people also die.

But might I make an exception
For a pet rock?
Old rocks also die
But on geologic time.

Of course, someone might.
If ignorant of our relationship,
Discard my new pet.
And, after my demise,
Someone might feed my rock
To a crusher,
To make works
Of fleeting human “progress.”

So maybe I should instead
Take a pet star!
Even old stars die,
But if I pick a young, blue one
I can be certain it will
Outlive me by many years,
And remain,
Even when my sun is no more,
And not mourn my passing.