​Resist by Jessabell Forrest


My cat, pitiful, with eyes like marbles,
stares at me, one lone shoe string
under her pale paw.

I ignore her--
continue reading Blood Music,
my hands intent with poetry.

I glance down at her again,
her eyes now sending me to Venus,
to Jupiter, anywhere but here.

I slide a bookmark into place,
pick up the shoe string,
and play with my neglected cat.


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Jessabell Forrest is from Ohio, but currently lives in North Dakota. Although she has been writing for many years, Up the Staircase Quarterly is her first publication. She loves Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, and playing with her kittens.