Cats Vs. Dogs

In the morning, after first stretch

The not-yet-awaken snarl in contempt

Playfully in the afternoon they jump about,

Hopping from chair to chair, from room to room,

At suppertime, they calmly wait

For leftovers and scraps to fill their plates,

Vying for dominance, they stand their ground,

Assertiveness of appetite, here, friends square against

Brother and kin, all for that natural, necessary inhibition

Yet when time for sleep comes for all,

To Switzerland they do flee, and revel in

The comfort of a bedding of neutrality

A quick one I've been working on.  Not sure it's completely finished yet, but thought it read well enough to share, any comments will be welcome.  Would you think this needs a bit more trimming, or perhaps an additional stanza or so to really hammer the overriding metaphor down?  

It's Tuesday, and we all know what that means. Yep, it's time for another Open Link Night over at D'verse.  At 3pm the pub doors will open up, and the ultra-talented community of poets will begin to flow through the doors.  Stop on by for some incredible pints of poetry and while you're there, why not share a poem of your own.

On Our Walk

Stop on over to the New World Creative Union for their Wednesday Wake Up Call.  It's great creative fun that you'll look forward to each week.  This week we're prompted to return to our comfort zones.  They're also discussing fairy tales, nursery rhymes and the lot.  All in celebration of Pat's newest Book.

I wrote this a while back, but I think it fits in with this week's Wake-Up theme.  Well, anyhow...


Please listen to the recording, to get the full flavor of the piece.

listen to ‘On our Walk’ on Audioboo

I went for a walk with my nieces two…

Down the street and by the school…

The three of us watching all there was to see

‘twas when appeared the first so free

little birdie spoke to we

tweet, tweet, tweet

and so our little walk grew to four

the girls said they hoped for more

until we glanced a monkey in a tree

tossing banana peels with glee

…..ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

The bird returned and spoke its mind

Tweet, tweet, tweet

And now our little walk had climbed to five

The girls loved how the group thrived

And on we went a little more

‘twas when we met a little cat

who thought he was so mighty fat

Meow he called to us

To which the monkey and the bird replied

And now our little walk grew to six

The girls loved the mix

Until there came a cow so tame,

It chimed its bell and spoke it’s name

Moo, moo, moo

And the bird replied in kind

The monkey chose to speak its mind

The cat went meow

And so our little walk turned to seven

The girls thought this was animal heaven

Until we saw duck

Quack, quack, quack

The cow said hello

The monkey then did bellow

While the bird went tweet

And the cat meowed with intent

As our little walk became eight

The girls thought this was so great

Until we saw a frog,

ribbit

Playing games on his log

They said hello, but the monkey yawned

The cat meowed and the bird went tweet

The cow was quiet, but soon he did greet

While the duck simply quacked by its feet

what began as three was now nine

The girls thought this walk was mighty fine

Until we came to a little dog

Chained up still barking a song

And the Cat went Meow

The Bird did tweet

The monkey spoke

And the frog took a poke

Then the cow went moo

While the duck always kept his cool

As our little walk became ten

the girls have always loved our walks since then 

For those of you that enjoy children's stories, I highly recommend you stopping by Pat Hatt's Site, where he has links, or simply going to Amazon and searching for his name.  You'll find a series of kiddie books, which are all very good, enjoyable for kids and adults alike.

Veal

Fractured, little lamb
Splint still slipping
Yet all vocality has been shut down

Having watched your child
Harvested in such a manner
And being powerless to render any semblance of support
BAA
Sheepish remark

And so, grazing the fields
ne'er felt the same
As only eyes could affix
to barbs and those
crabapple bearing trees
amidst the alternating greenish hues beneath

And the farmers dog, black and white stubby tailed creature that it is, prances the prairie in tormenting tease as the ferry noise infiltrates the serenity the sheep here keep

All was fine
All was the way it always had been
Ignorance, the pond-elixir to the damnably stupid

All was even
As the odds ever were
Yet
Those businessmen
polishing their gold canes and shiny wheels a riding

Somewhere in that ballast
Understanding came to me
where I learned the value of a friend
A child
A mate
Where I learned was not meant for mutilation
yet always it comes to that, always right?

Knowledge damaged everything
And so,
Tonight,
When the yard is empty
and the cows have all been fed
I shall slink past the owl--
and into the barbs I shall go--
entangling
Entangled till
All segments of intelligence
will have been stifled too

It's tuesday once again and my friend Brian Miller is tending the bar over at D'Verse for tonight's edition of Open Link Night.  Stop on by, have a few pints of verse and offer one of your own( look at it like it's a tip).

Tell Me Where the Rivers Gone

Tell me where the rivers gone

Eroded, lost, neglected, drained,

And where did the skylines go,

What once was clear is filled with smoke,

Where were you when this all transpired?

Where are you now in times so dire?

I remember the years of youth,

When grass was green

And truth was truth,

I remember nature mingling,

From blades of grass to the summer’s breeze,

From wave to leaf,

A landscape of God’s intent,

Parched throats curing thirst along the shore,

Tiniest of creatures scurry up the trees, the games they play, the foraging,

The deer, the geese, the moose, the elk,

The squirrel, the bear, the fish, the gazelles, the bees,

Where have they gone? 

Why did they leave?

Is man responsible?

Should we grieve?

The Wombat and the Wolverine

As the Wombat licks clean the leaves

From a perch amongst the spacious trees

A wolverine in search of food

Observes a Caribou through

An undistributed rocky ledge

To which it drools a puddle

Of hunger and desire,

Engage it does,

Expedient and free,

Only to get snared

In a web so wide and deep,

Thrashing, claws provoked

Each limb further wrapped

With each thrust and movement

The spider who designed this trap

Toggles the fringes in passive wait

Until the wolverine’s will disintegrates

Giving the Wombat a most unexpected show




Reposted for Poetry Picnic 34: Plants, Creatures and the Cosmos.

The Mirthfulness of an old Cow

The mirthfulness of an old cow,

Provides the backdrop,

The serendipity of a zebra waltzing across the stage, his partner a declawed panther

Brought a rise and a roar, and a pausing moment, as everyone took in the sight,

The jackal had a different plan, a follower he’d be no more, intent  he was to own the night

The poorest of the osprey kin, blond and bruised,

Her happiness she finally made it to a stage like this,

Ditched though was her dinner date, for the ever present

Widow who was busy stealing splendor from the lightning fly

The plot unfolded with cackling and cough, to which the osprey took to heart

The on-call notice, from cat to gnat, to wasp to  

 The buzzard and Bumbling Bee circled the arena, surveying the scene,

And then the kittens’ tooth shone, creating an effect like a domino,

From smirk to smile to glassy gaze, a wink told the boa to unleash the phoenix from the sky,

Moments passed and time it froze,

And then the firebird arose, from beneath the stage with a chalice containing purity and gold,

The baboon, with burnt fist, instructed his boss to go deep, go very long

And that the Jackal did indeed, racing swiftly past a gaggle as he ran, escaping the door chalice in hand,

Fifteen minutes to the marching call, A peacock unplumbed its’ tail,

The gander grunted and the rhinos charged

A beagle breaks the piranhas’ fall as a hedgehog cues the applause card,

Swans swiftly sedates the orangutan simultaneous to the moment cricket lit the fuse,

 And so goes the way the bovine saved the day, of course with a little help along the way