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When one of my cats died in January, I began
looking for a breeder. I thought about getting another Tonkinese. Using
the Internet and the telephone, I quickly found a breeder in nearby West
Virginia. FrankLee Cattery, which specializes in Tonkinese, had recently
stopped also breeding Bombays and had a couple of adult Bombays needing
to be placed. (The jet-black Bombay was created by crossing Burmese, the
breed of my recently departed cat, and black American Shorthairs.) I
decided to take a trip to Lost Creek, West Virginia, to have a look at
the cattery and investigate a breed I had never considered. When my
Tonkinese died soon after the trip, I decided that I really needed
another cat and probably should take a chance on the female Bombay I had
seen at FrankLee. (There seemed some wisdom in selecting a cat that
didn’t look too much like either of the cats I had just lost.) The
Bombay’s name was Evening Light (“Eve”), and I decided to bring her home
without spending much time with her.
Despite needing some time to adapt to her new environment, Eve has
proven to be a happy addition to the household. From the beginning, she
and Ezekiel, the other cat in the house, were wary of one another,
but curious. No hisses have been heard from either cat, and they have
been getting along increasingly well.
The process of getting to know a new cat
seemed an obvious topic for a poem, but the poem did not come quickly. I
first thought of the opening line, “I got a new cat,” but inspiration
for the second line was not forthcoming. An opportunity to help a friend
at a recording session took me away from work and away from my computer,
and while Mike was singing, I was writing “Eve.” I like this poem, but
it will likely be revised—and, I hope, improved—over time. I'm still
asking myself if my first line should or should not have been split into
two lines.
Another picture of Eve can be found
here.
— LED, 3/16/2005
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