He slides out of the recliner,
shakes his ears as he bee-lines
for the couch where my mother
is about to sit down,
his collar jingling.

I squeeze my legs together,
compensating for the vacuum
of heat that abandoned the nest
between my knees and calves.

My mother stands, exits the room,
he jumps down and finds
my father.
The two-timer vaults his furry tail
onto that recliner’s footrest.

I’m cold.