Badyl

Paul Amusa

Painting - Oil and acrylic paint on canvas

90 x 130 x 2 cm

In the quiet moments of my migrant journey, loneliness settled over me like an unwelcome shadow. Moving to a new land brought disconnection—a feeling of being unmoored, lost in a place where familiar faces and shared language were absent. In the midst of that void, I found Badyl. He wasn’t just a cat; he was a lifeline. His presence softened the edges of isolation. With every purr and playful glance, he reminded me that even in a new, uncertain world, connections could be forged. Badyl became my safe haven, grounding me in moments when everything felt disintegrated. His love for life—his uncontainable joy over simple pleasures like a warm patch of sunlight or a satisfying meal—rekindled something within me, a small hope that things could get better. But our time together was fleeting. Just a year after he came into my life, cancer took him away. Losing him felt like losing a piece of the fragile stability I had managed to build. Yet, in his absence, Badyl’s spirit continues to dance in the canvas of my memories, reminding me of resilience, love, and the solace we find in the bonds we create, even in the most unexpected places.