Maxine's Kitty: the feline afterlife

'No plastic expression can ever be more than a residue of an experience' – Man Ray

Sketchbook entry February 1977

In my travels I have encountered two cities of the feline afterlife. They are the two great classical cities, Rome and Athens. From what I know of these two civilizations, and from what I have observed about the quantity and quality of the cats residing in each, it is with certainty that I say that Rome is the Purgatory wherein the multitudes await entry into Athens.

While I was in Athens, I was residing in the Hotel Diana the Huntress. Early one morning after taking a shower, I stepped from the shower stall to see before me a very young, black and white kitten.

As I dried and dressed, the kitten walked around the hall seeming to wait for me. As I walked down the stairs to my room he accompanied me, and stooping to pet him I was shocked to recognize the familiar spots on his face. This was Maxine’s Kitty with whom I’d lived until his death only weeks before.

His returned glance of recognition seemed to assure me of his identity, but the final affirmation came with the poses he assumed as I took photograph after photograph.