There’s a pink and purple tie-dye dress at PetSmart.
In a small size. For little dogs. Perfect for my
petite cat, Petunia. Had to get it. I couldn’t resist.
Of course, she hated it. Slipped out of it in less
than sixty seconds. Barely enough time to snap
a quick photo for my Facebook page. How do they
do it? How do those people on social snap zillions
of perfectly posed cat photos every day? All those
cats dressed in outfits from adorable to bizarre,
just lounging around in front of the camera,
enjoying their new clothes. Are these cats drugged?
Mine would have to be, talented escape artists
that they are. There must be a trick to this. What
is it? Like the video I saw on YouTube last week.
Stress control. How to. It seems eliminating stress
is as easy as changing your focus. Stress is like
a dress with the real me lurking beneath it.
I have the ability to slip out of that stress-dress
as quickly as Petunia shedding her pink and purple
tie-dye. All I have to do is change my focus, change
my story, change my mind. Really? That’s it? That’s
all? True, Petunia is a stress-free cat. The calmest
cat I’ve ever known. Maybe there’s something
to this stress-dress thing. Or maybe she just hates
wearing dog clothes. Can’t blame her for that.
Laura Stamps is a narrative poet and the author of several books: THE YEAR OF THE CAT, IN THE GARDEN, CAT DAZE, TUNING OUT, and more. Winner of the Muses Prize. Recipient of 7 Pushcart Prize nominations. Shortlisted in the Loft Books Poetry Competition. Twitter: @LauraStamps16.