When Shelley

died

I wiped foam

from her mouth

the bubbly kind that pippies

breathe       out

      when the      tide

recedes.

.

I lifted her

carefully

from her basket

retracted her claws

arranged pink-padded paws

so that she'd be

                           comfortable

                       in sleep.

.

I swaddled her

tight

carried her outside.

Three feet

was all I could manage

three feet

and the last foot of that

cranky, chalky, clay.

.

The sides were

impossible

              to keep     smooth

and I wanted them smooth

they        had to be

               smooth.

               they had to...

she deserved that.

.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Plankton_creates_sea_foam_3.jpg