Staged house with cat

This house seems empty this morning
And the cat cannot understand.
He does not connect the For Sale sign
on the roadside with the uncharacteristically
tidy rooms he roams through.

The house is a motel this morning
Inoffensive paintings and the books are fewer on the shelves.
They are organized by color and not by subject.
James' Tropic of Cancer and Balzac's Droll Stories
Displayed in spite of their content.

The house is quiet this morning
Save for the meowling of the cat
Who calls for answers in the empty rooms
And longs for the murmur of voices
At the kitchen table.