2025 First Prize: 'Sister Cat' by Rose Schierig

Sister Cat

For Molly

I am unthought of, she is
wedding present shaped,
skittery farm dweller-
uprooted like an overdue carrot.

Past kittenhood and trembling,
holding begets blood.
Unknotted by months,
she sits beside them.

I am born, she is
tortoiseshell stained curious.
Furry part of the furniture,
familiar as milk.

Apple tree guardian,
investigator of grass.
Her, out of the window,
as expected as the sky.

I am ten, she is
a warm kernel of sleep.
Comb fiddles at cots,
her tongue is tired too.

My lap for a mattress,
years produce purring.
Fingers dance at her chin,
past whispers of whiskers.

I am sixteen, she is
gone.
Asleep in the flowerbed.
Her, out of the window

as expected as the sky.

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Dead Cat Poetry Prize - winners and commendees, 2025

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Rose Schierig is a poet from the North East of England. When she isn’t writing she can be found beachcombing, reading and spending time with her partner and their cat, Anemone. Rose shares her writing as @fromrosamund on Instagram