Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Pussy Cats

Do you think crying will help?
All right, you're right, sometimes it really does.
I have wept, myself.
Often.

I have wept when I felt God in the solitude of an early morning trail.
I have stood there in my Reeboks crying like a girl,
like God--
that other Girl.

I have wept when someone hurt me
by their words,
by their fists,
by their absence.
I have wept when I have been angry and unable to change anything.

Peanut, there are idiots in this world;
people who leave the articles out of their poems--
people who chase money, abandon children, hit women--
people who enthusiastically murder themselves.

Let's forget them for an hour, babe.
Let's not cry this morning.
Let's never wear chiffon again unless it's for ourselves.
It's time to toughen up.

To help us, I have taken the liberty of making some changes.
I have added a few accents and grace notes;
things to keep us on our toes.

There is a leopard in the vestibule.
She's sneaky and quiet.
Don't come downstairs until you're really awake.

In the sun room is a pride of lions.
If we take a nap among them,
we will understand sisterhood better.
We will wake up with golden eyes and an instinct for survival.

Finally, there are cheetahs in the breakfast.
They are like us, they speak softly, almost like house cats,
but they catch everything.

Trust me on these things, sugar.
By lunch time we will know so much that was hidden before.
We will look the same, but we will have a new mantra:
Step softly.
Stick together.
Eat fast.
_______

 

11 comments:

  1. If it's time to toughen up (and I agree it is), then this is the way to do it. Find sisterhood with the leopards, the lions and the cheetahs. Great teachers, these girls. Love the mantra!

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  2. I do adore your cat poems.. I want to wake up with golden eyes!

    And I love the list of lessons we would do well to learn from cats.

    This whole poem is a joy to read.

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  3. I love this to bits and pieces! I'll just let you guess which line is my favorite . . .

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  4. Meow! Love this! And I can eat fast, too, as long as I can eat often!

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  5. Even in my dizzy state I had to both laugh and feel pain at the story this tells, Shay, not to mention the way you tell it. I have not had the good fortune to find kinship in the realm of big cats, but I do feel that they have much to teach.

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  6. Shay--I have NEVER worn chiffon (thank goodness) even for myself, unless you count the chocolate chiffon pie I ate, which I'm still "wearing"--years and years later...

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  7. "I have added a few accents and grace notes"

    If you fail to keep life interesting, then what's the point of it all? I'll take the cheetahs and the leopards over the sloths and the lemmings any day of the week...

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  8. Frankie's yearning voice was not unlike your own





    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral

    =^..^=


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  9. I love the depth and lesson in your verse~ Gosh, your poem makes me want to cheer and cry~

    Thank you!

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  10. I rate this a five laugh:~)

    My favorite part was:
    "There is a leopard in the vestibule.
    She's sneaky and quiet.
    Don't come downstairs until you're really awake."

    I'm still laughing. If they studied your brain, I sure the creative part would glow so powerfully, the doctors would need sunglasses!

    As I write this, the last three lines stand out and make me laugh again. Yes, those changes would make anyone toughen up:~)

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Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?