Debra LaValley's Blog

White Cat on a Cinnamon-Orange Porch

A “For Sale” sign stands anchored
in the still green grass
on the front lawn
of a cinnamon-orange house.
It is a strange color
for an ordinary house
on an ordinary road
in an ordinary town.
On the porch – a large white cat,
its legs tucked neatly under its chest,
sits attentively.
A still life in perfect balance.
Blazing maples frame the yard
spattering the black driveway with color –
a giant palette belonging to an artist,
invisible to all, but the cat
who watches every brush stroke
and the occasional fall of a golden
sable hair from the brush,
as the artist colors the day.
Bright oranges running into red –
jaded greens to shimmering yellows
turn the landscape into a tribute to Monet.

The house stands empty now –
the artist has moved to paint
on another canvas.
The white cat watches
from another vantage.
But, I still picture that white cat
on the cinnamon-orange porch
on an ordinary road,
in an ordinary town,
and I am still enchanted.

10/98

The above is a poem that I wrote 10/1998 to capture the photo I never took at the time. The house is on Mountain Road (maybe 72?) in Concord, NH. There really was a white cat that used to sit on the porch. I always wanted to stop and take a photo – but never did. The cat complemented the orange perfectly. The house was sold, and the cat went off with the owners. I always think of that cat when I drive past the house. A few weeks ago – I noticed part of the house was a whitish-gray. It made me sad that the house was not going to be orange any more. I drove by at lunch today and was pleasantly surprised to see that the whitish-gray was primer and the house is all cinnamon-orange again! On my way back to work – I stopped this time and snapped a photo. I sure wish there were a white cat sitting on the porch next to those pumpkins!