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I’m walking the boardwalk down in the beaches
a quick stop on the way to pick up the cat’s ashes
it’s early march but it’s 18 degrees and sunny
and I’m taking it as an expression of the cat’s generosity

cos this is obviously a pretty fucked up errand
but the sun is helping me make this day repairing
when I was little my parents read me a story and the end was my favourite part
when mr bell’s fix-it shop learned to fix broken hearts

my heart’s been broken so many times I can’t remember
a lot of times I needed a mr bell but there just wasn’t one there
as I get older I try harder and harder to find
mr bell’s in the sun and the wind and the rain and the birds and the sky

so I’m grateful to be able to walk outside today
I parked the car and walking further and further away
I should probably head back but it’s just so nice to see
all these people and their dogs and the seagulls feeling good beside the sea

but I passed a man a few minutes ago who looked like he was crying
he was walking with a border collie and wiping his eyes and I think he was trying
to manage the pain of whatever was going on
maybe that dog was sick or his wife was leaving or he lost his son

but that’s life, it’s pain and beauty all wrapped up together
nothing really getting worse nothing really getting better
just cycles and circles and dialectics repeating
yeah I just used the word dialectics and mischaracterized it’s meaning

so onward I went to collect the last of my cat
when for a moment I pulled over to check my position on the map
when a lady in her late sixties in a pink jacket walked past the car
and then she looked back and with her cane she sorta waved me over

she asked me if I could drive her to the td bank up the road
it was a nice day but it was still march and to her it was still cold
and it was a busy street for an old woman to walk
apparently she’d done this route recently and had a fall

so of course I drove her to the bank and offered to wait and drive her back
she was thankful and kind and told me about her son who was at home taking a nap
cos he worked the overnight shift stocking shelves at costco
so I helped her into the car and she talked to me while I drove

and later that afternoon I realized that that lady was the cat
she was sweet and funny and kind and she let
me take care of her in the way that I could just like that little waze did
and I was so grateful that through this strange encounter I was able to be with him

and across that day the sun gave way to light rain
the kind that smells warm like new life in the spring
and I lit a candle and I sat on my front step
and I smoked a cigar and said thank you to my sweet friend

and I’ve been staying close with the other cat
we’re watching curb your enthusiasm and he’s resting on my lap
it’s just the two of us now but we’re doing okay
spending a lot of time and taking it day to day to day

and we’ll watch over the ashes of our beloved friend
and like mr bell each other’s hearts we will learn to mend

credits

from The Cat Album, released November 5, 2020
by Tyler Shipley
feat. Graham McLaughlin (violin, voice)
and Robin Linton (voice)

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Tyler Shipley Toronto, Ontario

Tyler Shipley was the founding member of the Consumer Goods (theconsumergoods.bandcamp.com) and now performs as a solo artist.

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