the ballad of lola and jolie

your second feline tragedy, you name
her lola when yours is jolie. black/white
behind a washing machine, kiss untame
pink skittish nuzzle jelly bean as light
a lift as if she’s stuffed with pellets, not
leukemia and bones — you take her home
and didn’t know — even though, she was sought
for you, replacement kitty — can’t be alone
—
you summon to a lap and stroke to sleep.
she’ll stay alive for seven years, serum
injections twice a week you pay for with
your topless cheers. transfusions, tears become
details — kneesocks, pigtails — a naked myth.
miss her every single fucking day.
you’re not jolie; lola’s gone away.

Kristin Garth is a poet from Pensacola and a sonnet stalker. In addition to Ghost City Review, her sonnets have stalked the pages of Glass, Luna Luna, Occulum, Anti-Heroin Chic, Burning House Press, Bone & Ink, and many other publications. Her chapbook Pink Plastic House is available from Maverick Duck Press and she has two forthcoming: Pensacola Girls (Bone & Ink Press Sept 2018) and Shakespeare for Sociopaths (Jan 2019). Follow her sonnets, socks, and secrets on Twitter: @lolaandjolie