a digital commonplace book
(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)
It was a rainy, rainy day. I was home, sitting on the couch with two of my three lazy cats and reading a good book when this poem came to mind.
Today, my phone brought up this old picture for me to look at. It produced a bittersweet memory, which I expressed in verse.
#bittersweet #memories #pets
(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)
Okay, okay! I’m on my way!
(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)
I’m always amused by the bravery of cats… except when they’re scared.
#doggerel #caterwaul #underdogs #overcats #dogsandcats #catsanddogs
(background image by StockSnap on Pixabay)
Here’s a proverb that applies to more than our treatment of animals:
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
Proverbs 12:10 (the KJV rendering I memorized as a child)
NOTE: this is not about my actual nextdoor neighbor. His middle name is Kindness.
I’m the first one up most mornings. Between reading Greek and writing poetry, there’s always the cats.
We both calmed down, and I took a photo to prove it. But not before I wrote a poem* about the vicissitudes of duty. You see, I grew up with the following proverb:
A righteous man cares for the life of his beast.
Proverbs 12:10
But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
For the Grammar Nerds
Should it be “Old Cat and I,” or “Old Cat and Me“?
I or Me
with apologies to Robert Frost
Some say the pronoun should be I,
Some say me.
From what I know of how I act,
I hold with those who favor I.
But if I could choose otherwise,
I think we know enough of cats
To say that their effect
Is quite extreme
On mortals such as me.
* That poem, “Duty in Retrospect,” was pretty raw, and I haven’t decided if it’s safe to publish. My response to bothersome cats brings up other bothersome issues.
Back in late May, Joshua rescued a kitten that he found on Ferguson Road. Here’s what I wrote a day or two after:
Jonathan promptly renamed him Furrgie. I’m going with Furrguson. So far, he understands that friends check you for fleas, and that purring melts hearts.
As the days and weeks passed, Furrguson seemed to forget all about his “early life.” He got his first kitten vaccination. All the fleas are gone, and he is fattening up. Now he pounces on anything and everything, often terrorizing the older cats despite their hissing and powerful bat-downs. But when he has expended all his kitten energy, he does still like to curl up as close to our faces as possible. He purrs his little heart out, and occasionally reaches up to gently touch our lips or noses with his velveted paws.
