Curiosity, The Cat Poem by Za7ra Sulaiman

"You look like a cat, " he said with a grin,
And I laughed it off, thinking nothing within,
Just a tease, a jest, a careless remark,
Tossed in the air like a match in the dark.

But he watched me close, with knowing eyes,
As if he saw through every disguise.
People say curiosity kills the cat
I never believed in things like that.

Yet here I am, chasing threads of might-be,
Tugging at questions that won't let me be.
What if he meant it not just in jest?
What if I'm more than just one of the rest?

Drawn to the silence, the spaces between,
The flickers of truth left unseen.
Our what-ifs, our maybes, they pull me near,
Whispering riddles only I seem to hear.

And so I followed, soft-pawed and sly,
Climbed to the edges of reason why.
Until his gaze turned quiet and cold
A secret kept, a story untold.

My nature betrayed me, heart first and blind,
Purring for answers I'd never find.
Alas, like the cat in his silly old joke,
My curiosity clung, until it broke.

So if you see me, don't call me tame
I'm the girl who played his dangerous game.
I laughed when he said I looked like a cat
Now I wonder how deeply he meant that