My First Love (Ode to Pushkin) by Rachel Eve - Feb 26 2025

I was five, you were of an undetermined age When I found you under the neighbor's tree You were shy, didn’t let me touch you right away So I wrote you a letter in red crayon, “I hope you’ll stay”

Oh Pushkin, you were my best friend You were the star of all my third grade journals Oh Pushkin, too few years we had together But I’ll always remember Your stripes and jowls and wanderin’ howls And how you caught the bird that time And left it like a prize on the back stoop The way you’d let me pick you up Your fur a cushion for the love I’ll always feel for you Can you feel it too? Oh Pushkin…

You were mine for a time, but the great outdoors Always pulled you away from our home You’d return, full of burrs, smelling like the cold Til the day you did not, had to let you go

Oh Pushkin, you were my best friend You were the star of all my third grade journals Oh Pushkin, too few years we had together But I’ll always remember Your stripes and jowls and wanderin’ howls And how you caught the bird that time And left it like a prize on the back stoop The day you’d let me pick you up Your fur a cushion for the love I’ll always feel for you

I like to think of you sometimes Doing strange leaps in the clouds You’re running free and running wild Can you hear me singing out?

Oh Pushkin, you were my best friend You were the star of all my third grade journals Oh Pushkin, too few years we had together But I’ll always remember Your stripes and jowls and wanderin’ howls And how you caught the bird that time And left it like a prize on the back stoop The way you’d let me pick you up Your fur a cushion for the love I’ll always feel for you Can you feel it too? Oh Pushkin…