Sunday, 21 November 2021

Mistaken Identity


Do you remember that time

when I mistook our red watering can

for a cat?

 

No, of course you don’t,

because I never mentioned it,

(‘Until now!’ as my class of 2000

used to joke),

out of the embarrassment which comes

from confusing red watering cans

with tortoiseshell cats.

 

Rather like the time

when I mistook a pot plant

for a cat (catalogued

in a poem some years ago),

and the time, just now,

when I mistook my black shoes

in the hall

for a cat.

 

All of which has me thinking

that maybe I could mistake anything

for a cat,

like those times in the past,

when everyone mistook my smile

for a smile.

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