(for Jill Batiansila)

Sometimes you make a new friend
who attaches themselves to you

like feline Velcro, who settles in
for a good nap with its purr

on high throttle so that you cannot
bear to peel the little one off

your chest, remembering,
perhaps, your babies doing

something similar, sleepily
clinging like small sloths

to their mothers, trapping
you in the best possible way,

inspiring your eyelids to
thicken and fall. Love shows

up like that more often than
we realize. We have only to

pick it up, allow the embrace,
to relish the snuggle when it is

so sweetly offered.