Paintings of the Dining Room

I have a painting of the dining room of

Everywhere I’ve ever lived

Since I learned to paint in college.

I enjoy them. It’s a sort of collection.

The last one I did was of the house I rented

With my ex when we first moved to Kentucky and

I remember when I painted it like it was yesterday.

I was chasing happy I was high on acid I saw

My cat on her favorite perch and I wanted to

Paint her. I chose acrylics for the first time

In a long time because I wanted bright colors

I needed contrast and hurry I needed

Transient urgency. So I painted my cat

As a blur. A blue ghost

Running across the painting, up and down all over the kitchen

Looking out each widow.

Of course it’s not as good as I pitched but

Now that my cat has been stolen by my ex

I wonder if in the back of my mind I always knew what would happen.

I never painted the dining room

Of the house we moved into next. I didn’t paint

Her house

Because I never felt welcome in it.