Poem by Katya Sabaroff Taylor

I sailed to the end of the longest river

Then sailed back, missing home

But where was my home? Was it this back and forth, back and forth,

Like a shuttle on a loom?

Meanwhile I could see the golden stones

At river bottom and the violet fishes

With their fluttery fins,

And a crow overhead so dark it almost

Blocked the sun.

I had my book, of course,

And pen, to write the journey,

As I sailed and sailed,

Until along the bank I saw

A cat, furry and orange

With a plume of a tail.

I sailed right up and she leapt

Noiselessly into my boat

And stood nobly, white feet

And whiskers, beside me

Co-captain now.

My hair grew long, and silver,

I needed no shoes

Just my old cloth kimono

With the flying cranes, and

A lilac sash.

It only took a year or two

For me to know

This river was my home

And all the golden stones

My fortune, endlessly consoling.

Katya Sabaroff Taylor

April  6-7, 2020