Catymology

The timber tiger is what I seek.
His stripes are bold; his bulging cheek

Is filled with nuts and seeds and bird eggs
And bugs and worms and even frog legs!

I can hear him chittering.
Underneath the steps he’s skittering.

I know if I am very still
I’ll have a chance to make a kill.

And what else to do on a cloudy day
But lie on the patio and dream of prey?






Now, for the Modulator's Friday Ark. And on Sunday, the Carnival of the Cats at Meowza.

Labels: chipmunks, poetry

A pear-shaped cat whose proclivity
Was to maximize his productivity
Got an excellent start:
He perfected the art
Of militant couch inactivity.

Today's Carnival of the Cats will be at When Cats Attack! Don't forget to celebrate Mardi Gras on Tuesday. You know I'll be doing that.

Labels: poetry

I looked out the window, and what did I see?
That calico foreign cat looking in at me!
Lying on the sidewalk, cool as could be,
She had nothing better to do than laugh at me.

I got the calico blues.
I said the calico blues.

We'll be joining the Friday Ark today and on Sunday, the Carnival of the Cats will be at Pet's Garden Blog.

Update: 6/9/08. Pet, of Pet's Garden Blog, has been feeling poorly. The Carnival of the Cats # 221 appears at ... the Carnival of the Cats. Thanks, Robyn.

Labels: guest cats, poetry

I am Tablecat and this is MY table.

I am on the level.

Your table is my table. Every table is my table.

All my table coverings come pre-furred.

Now you may worship Tablecat.

More cats: Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats 5/11/08 #217 at Bad Kitty Cats.

Labels: poetry, tablecat

In case you missed my Winter Solstice poem, here it is again:

A pear-shaped cat contemplates the Winter Solstice

The shortest of days has come again
Freezing rain and darkness falling
The humans keep a candle burning
To call the sunlight back to earth

Later, they’ll go to bed and dream
Of peace for earth and all its creatures
While I keep watch throughout the night
My eyes refracting paradise.



The winter solstice takes place today or early tomorrow morning. Here in the North American Central Time Zone, it will be at 12:08 a.m. December 22. Lots more about the Solstice is at Candlegrove.

Visit all the other creatures at Modulator's Friday Ark. Missy, KC and Bear will host the Carnival of the Cats on Sunday.

Labels: poetry

Did you know that the great American poet Emily Dickinson wrote a poem about the leopard?

Civilization--spurns--the Leopard

492

Civilization—spurns—the Leopard!
Was the Leopard—bold?
Deserts—never rebuked her Satin—
Ethiop—her Gold—
Tawny—her Customs—
She was Conscious—
Spotted—her Dun Gown—
This was the Leopard's nature—Signor—
Need—a keeper—frown?

Pity—the Pard—that left her Asia—
Memories—of Palm—
Cannot be stifled—with Narcotic—
Nor suppressed—with Balm—

Emily Dickinson

In this poem, Dickinson identifies with the captive female leopard. In her own habitat, the leopard is regal--dressed in satin and gold--and she is conscious. In captivity, under the frown of a "keeper," the leopard is diminished, but not broken. She still remembers her glory (the palm), and retains her feline dignity.

Like many of Dickinson's poems, this one can be read on several levels. Perhaps the leopard is the unconventional--the poetic impulse itself--wild and untamed. Or perhaps Dickinson saw the leopard's captivity as a symbol for slavery.

Look for more poetic beasts at Modulator's Friday Ark. The Carnival of the Cats will be at Pet's Garden Blog this Sunday.

Labels: poetry, wildcats

Ode to the Cat, from Voyages and Homecomings, by Pablo Neruda

The animals were imperfect,
long-tailed,
unfortunate in their heads.
Little by little they
put themselves together,
making themselves a landscape,
acquiring spots, grace, flight.
The cat,
only the cat
appeared complete and proud:
he was born completely finished,
walking alone and knowing what he wanted.

Neruda's splendid poem goes on to describe the cat's many attributes: his golden eyes, his air of mystery, the way in which he polices the house. The author professes, finally, that the cat is unknowable. And he says: "everything/is too unclean/for the immaculate foot of the cat."

I'm sure all cats will agree that Neruda knew the essense of the cat. He is a great poet!

Look for the Friday Ark tomorrow and--on Sunday 10/7/2007--the Carnival of the Cats at Stranger Ranger.

Labels: poetry

Labels: poetry

The great Oscar Wilde wrote: "Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory." We had rain all day on Saturday. I spent the day in my director's chair next to the sliding glass door, just waiting for it to open. I am still sad, thinking about the humans who died or were injured when the big bridge collapsed. The humans were listening to sad music by Keith Jarrett. I began mentally composing my epic poem about the day I caught the chipmunk.

Sing, Great Cat, the tale of Aloysius, mighty hunter of the line of Pangur Ban!

The Carnival of the Cats will be at Life from a Cat's Perspective later today. And the Bad Kitty Cat Chaos Festival will be at CatSynth, where Luna, who rules over CatSynth, has set a theme of cats and music. Like the bards of old, I will sing my epic poem.

Labels: poetry

The Summer Solstice occurred at 1:06 p.m., Central Time, on June 21, 2007.

Now I'm going over to the Friday Ark to see what my feline friends are up to. And don't forget Sunday's Carnival of the Cats.

Labels: poetry, summer solstice

Rae Armantrout has a new book of poems out called Next Life. It includes a poem called "Thing," which you can read on the Academy of American Poets web site. In "Thing," Armantrout observes her cat's perfect self-regard. I was reminded of this picture of me enjoying the sunshine.




I'll be boarding the Modulator's Friday Ark tomorrow; and on Sunday, the Carnival of the Cats will be right here at Catymology.

Labels: Carnival of the Cats, poetry

Labels: poetry

Since Tuesday is Aloysius' day to simply be a cat,

I get to write whatever I want.

Here's an amusing quiz from Ravenblack, the site that brought us the Random Surrealism Generator. What poetic form are you? Since I know Aloysius like the inside of a litter box, I answered on his behalf. Here's what I found out:

I'm terza rima, and I talk and smile. Where others lock their rhymes and thoughts away I let mine out, and chatter all the while. I'm rarely on my own - a wasted day Is any day that's spent without a friend, With nothing much to do or hear or say. I like to be with people, and depend On company for being entertained; Which seems a good solution, in the end. What Poetry Form Are You?

This poem does seem to describe Aloysius' personality. Although he thinks he's a big, brave cat, he's usually in the same room as his humans, or nearby, where he can keep his eye on us.
Lately, he's been keeping a close eye on the patio door, in case it should open to let him outside.


What's terza rima? Let's ask the teacher:

A type of poetry consisting of 10- or 11-syllable lines arranged in three-line "tercets" with the rhyme scheme aba bcb cdc, etc. The poet Dante is credited with inventing terza rima, which he used in his Divine Comedy. Terza rima was borrowed into English by Chaucer, and it has been used by many English poets, including Milton, Shelley, and Auden.

P.S. The questions are not easy, though some of them seem specifically designed for felines; for example:

• 2. Which of these are well suited to holding together makeshift constructions made of boxes?
• 3. Which of the little piggies behaved in a sensible manner?:

But please don't ask me about what Aloysius would drop from a 66-story building--certainly not a cat!

Labels: cats, poetry

Amanuensis read some of my poetry at the Coffee Gallery in Minneapolis on Sunday. Of course, I couldn't go with her to the reading, because I hate traveling outside my back yard, and because they don't allow cats in restaurants here. But she came home and told me all about it. Apparently, the other humans thought my work was pretty amusing. Whatever!

Here are some of the poems she read:

Catted

Aloysius, Pangur Ban

The Four Subjects of Catblogging

A Pear-Shaped Cat Sings the Blues

The only thing that was more fun than hearing about the reading was that when she got home, I went outside and played in the garden. The white stuff is gone!

More playful critters are boarding the Friday Ark! On Sunday, the Carnival of the Cats lands at IMAO, where everyone is "Unfair. Unbalanced. Unmedicated." Oh, boy. maybe we'll get a postcard from Darcy in time to enter. It sounds like his kind of gig.

Labels: cats, catymology, poetry

Earth tips toward the light
I’ve heard birds chittering

Birds sing, but no green in my garden
We’ll have to wait for thunderstorms
To wash away the snow drifts


A hard rain would be good



I turn my face toward the light


Did I hear a bird? Is there any green?
No, it was false
I am a fool for Spring

The Vernal Equinox takes place today at 7:07 p.m CST. Honor your sunloving felines by submitting your links to the Friday Ark and also to the Carnival of the Cats, hosted this week by Scribblings.

Labels: cats, catymology, poetry

You gotta love me, ain’t no cat above me.
Just velvet glove me. You can’t get too much of me.
Catherine Deneuve me. You gotta love me.

I’m seriously crazy, congenitally lazy,
I “epater la bourgoisie,” yowling like a banshee.
But I’m rhyming like a daisy: She loves me not, she loves me.


You gotta love me, ain’t no cat above me.

I’m a sexy meezer, a yowler and a teaser.
My heart is in a squeezer. Gonna have a seizure.
But I’m the anti-freezer, ain’t no nasty skeezer.

You gotta love me, ain’t no cat above me.

Say you’ll be my valentine, I don’t need no dollar sign,
Let’s us get our hearts entwined, like a watermelon vine.
I ain’t got no anodyne, please don’t break this heart of mine.

You can sit above me, but you gotta love me
Rhyming like a daisy; You love me not? You love me!





P.S. Get on board with the Friday Ark at Modulator. On Sunday, the Carnival of the Cats lands at When Cats Attack.

Update: 2/16/07: If I weren't so vain, I wouldn't have submitted this to
Carnival of the Vanities #230, where it seems that Kehaar is a little confused about feline gender issues.

Labels: cats, catymology, hip hop, poetry, valentine

Labels: poetry

The Winter Solstice arrives today at 6:22 p.m. Central Time. For more information about Solstice Celebrations, take a look at the Candlegrove website. And don't forget to visit the Friday Ark, as well as the Christmas Eve edition of the Carnival of the Cats at IMAO. Peace and purrs to all!

Tags: catymology cats poetry

Labels: poetry

Modulator presents the Friday Ark. And on Sunday, the Carnival of the Cats will be at House of Mostly Black Cats.

Tags: catymology cats poetry

Labels: poetry

A poem for you:


Blessed are the catted.
May they never lack for entertainment
as long as they possess a piece of string.

Blessed are the catted,
May their homes be safe from mice.

Blessed are the catted,
May their ears ring with purrs.

Blessed are the catted.
May their clothes be forever furred.



Many cats and catted ones will gather at the Modulator's Friday Ark, and at this Sunday's Carnival of the Cats, hosted by Whole Kitten Kaboodle . Purrs!

Tags: catymology cats poetry

Labels: poetry