The Iteration of Matrices
Cheryl Snell
__________
Kitten
tangled
in bedclothes
watches her mistress
knead the dough. Stretching it
she folds it, layering it for winter warmth,
filling the slimness of nothing with possibilities. Later, when she lifts a corner
of blanket, she’ll discover a single green eye
floating in fabric, switching tail
poking a hole
elsewhere. Maps
of
napping
cats explain
inexplicables─ how lucky
coins positioned in holiday batter
may scatter in the baking and be served
to our nastiest relative; and how cats spring up whole from bundled blankets
to tightrope across the window ledge, batting butterflies
and trapping them before deciding
that pressing question
about
weather.
__________
Cheryl Snell’s books include several poetry collections and novels. Her most recent writing has or will appear in Ghost Parachute, Flash Boulevard, 100 Word Story, Bending Genres, On the Seawall, Midway, the Best Microfiction 2025 and the 2025 Best Small Fictions anthologies. A classical pianist, she lives in Maryland with her husband, a mathematical engineer.
__________
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Posted in Mardi Gras Microfiction Contest: March Feb '26 and tagged in #boudin, #microfiction