A/N: This is in the format of slam poetry because slam poetry is the bomb.com and this was an english assignment lol

"She cried a thousand oceans when he died." Just by hearing that, you're probably thinking of someone's brother, someone's father, someone's husband, or maybe even someone's friend. But what if it wasn't about a person at all? What if it was about a pet? You're probably thinking, "Why is she crying over a pet? He was just a pet? Nobody cries over the death of a pet." But what if in reality, that pet meant everything to you? Nothing hurts more than waking up to your mother telling you that your four year old cat, your best friend isn't looking good at five in the morning. So you rush down to your basement to see him panting, drool running down his chin, struggling for breath because he's in so much pain. Or maybe you start crying because of the sight in front of you and he tries to crawl into your lap to comfort not only himself but you as well, but he ultimately can't even make it to you because the stroke left the left side of his body completely paralyzed. Or maybe when he instantly calms down and lets death wash over him as if being caught in a tidal wave, dying with a slight smile upon his face because he got to see you before he died. Or maybe the part that makes you cry is the drive you make to take him to the vet so that they can dispose of his lifeless body. And the whole car ride you instinctively tap on his tummy to calm him down so he wouldn't get scared because you know how much he hated it there so you occasionally whisper 'it's okay' into his ear even though he can't hear you because he's dead. And then you drop off his body and the only thing of him that you get to take home with you is a chunk of clay with his name on it and an outline of his paw print. But little do you know that that stupid chunk of clay becomes the only item in your entire house that you cherish more than anything. You hold when you're sad, you trace the details of his paws with your fingertips, remembering the times when the pads of his paws tapped the floor as his claws desperately tried to get a hold of you that morning in the basement. Because now when you think of him, the only clear memory in your mind is that Wednesday, April sixteenth 2014 when you were supposed to be on spring break, but instead you woke up to see your cat die. Or maybe the part that makes you cry is when you get home from the vet and realize that nothing is the same without him. He no longer sleeps near your head, he no longer waits right by the door to greet you when you get home from a long day at school, making you smile instantly. Now that smile is replaced with a frown as you go back to that April, that memory, the one that continuously haunts you because it reminds you that he was only four, and you're mad at yourself because you should've spent more time with him and every night he waited for you to come to bed but you never went because you knew you weren't ready yet, and he always waited for you, you never waited for him. Or maybe what makes you cry is the fact that the day before he died, he made sure to fall asleep on your bed, unlike the previous twelve days that almost made you feel like he was avoiding you. But ultimately, you don't cry, you won't cry, you can't cry. Because he was just a cat. Just a pet. And nobody could possibly cry over the death of a pet.

C.V.