Who couldn't love a woman who writes love poems to her cats?

Fence Above the Sea
by Brigitte Byrd

This book is a series of prose poems about a relationship between a mother and a daughter. Each poem delves deeper into that relationship through specific events that involve the two of them. What endears me to this book, though, is the way Byrd brings her cats into many of the poems. They always are nestled at her feet or snuggling against her hand. The highlight of the book for me is on page 65 in a poem called "Notable Exceptions." The last two lines of the poem are as follows: "She buries her face in his fur to learn the scent of love. His hair tangles around her fingers and she knows he loves her when there is a dead mouse on the steps behind the door." I'm a sucker for women who regard their cats so highly.