Living with Monty

When I feed a creature
I anticipate a joyful
gallop towards the food. (or at the very least, a shuffle.)

When it rains and
it’s windy outside
I worry about shelter (for them).

When I approach with food
I do not expect them
to chew my shoe. (Weird.)

When food goes uneaten
For over 24 hours
I worry. (especially if there’s not been a sighting.)

When I check the fencing
my heart
is in my mouth. (escape is the worst-case scenario)

When I call tenderly from
a 2nd-floor window
I do not expect a response. (especially if the window is closed).

When I call gently from
beside fresh lettuce leaves
I hope for a sighting. (a rustle in the undergrowth, perhaps)

When I persistently call, whisper,
plead, long for, hope for,
anticipate a sighting. (I’m on a road to nowhere.)

What creature is this?

This post is for all creatures everywhere – contrariously orientated, hairy, not hairy, constructed to defy nature (but functional never the less), and more. And all those attributes we know, love, lose our hearts to, lose our tempers with, and more. And all that finickiness around; food, shelter, being locked in, being locked out, food, free feeding, not free feeding, grooming, bedding, social difficulty with ‘others’ – and more.

And finally here is to us. those creatures who are SLEEP DEPRIVED due to; demands for food at 3.00 am (or whenever), who respond to the demanding cry to be let out. Constantly for most of ‘sleep time’, and more. Us who lay awake at night listening to the rain and worrying ourselves awake about ‘shelter’. All this and more has us framed as hapless, hopeless. SERVANTS.

And we serve them anyway!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

11 thoughts on “Living with Monty”

  1. I can really relate to this, after the many animals who have shared my life – though sadly none at present. They have us wrapped round their little claws, paws and hooves! They give such unconditional love and are such great teachers too. Is this a horse by any chance?

    1. I am afraid Charlie that the word ‘gallop’ was an exaggeration and ironic – the Tortoise has an interesting gait but far from a gallop. And yes our animal friends, and in Monty’s case reptile friend, are excellent companions.

  2. Ah, a tortoise! I thought hedgehog wasn’t quite right because it didn’t make sense of fresh lettuce leaves or concern about escape…
    This may be a good point to mention Eckhart Tolle’s illustrated book Guardians of Being, about our companion animals. Delightful!Have you seen it, Rev Mugo and Charlie?

Leave a Reply to Ann Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.