Coincidence? In the hours before you died,
my cat trapped a bat in the claw
foot tub. Played with it almost

to death. When I called a trusted friend to rescue it/
me, we both naively hoped
it might fly into the midnight sky—broken

wing and all. And the hope that I might see you
glide through this life one more time was dashed
against unforgiving pavement in that moment—the one

I wouldn’t know I would desire
to retrieve for years.