(Here I am around age 5 with two of my first kittens.  It was always love at first sight.)

Instinct led
her

to lift the
small

mewing
creature with

pin-prick
paws

to her
chest, pressing

it close to
where her own heart

beat.  And instinct bade

the poor
kitten to cling

there,
slowly calmed

by a hand
curved

protectively
around

the boney
ridge

of its
back.  The two

clung
together 

as one – the
girl

with her
soft, slow

ways, and
the kitten,

made to
flourish like a

flower in
the clasp

of such
tenderness. 

Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!  May your life be filled with as many kinds of love as possible!