Saturday, April 18, 2015

Weekend in the country with cat and bird



Weekend in the country with cat and bird  -

She woke to a cat curled on a plump corner chair.
Sunlight spilling on vased flowers - in those un-askew moments
waking in the guesthouse – she smiled - the cat opened
one eye and then another – in steady emerald stare -stretching
in that languid feline way – in feigned innocence of the unhappy crimson pull of dawn’s nightmare furry sanguinary fury –
She turned, poor-still happy-hapless- house-guest,
suddenly startled by the silence of her sweet songbird –
turned to the pretty cage carried along with her –
Its door now curiously opened –
its tiny occupant unrecognizable
but for that precious puff
of yellow feathers stirring
in the breeze
from her hosts’
open window carrying her
soft scream into the now
mourning-morning


21 comments:

  1. Sadly felines make their own rules. How curiously enticing was the way you used the words with a clipped cruelty all of their own.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree: There is a "clipped cruelty" here, and we the readers are clipped right along with it.

      Delete
  2. Oh yes, innocent-seeming kittens have their own ideas about the fate of birds, don't they? It is indeed a natural instinct, but somewhat off-putting all the same...good poem.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a wonderful story poem...like a fable...i love the colours and the imagery and the apparent laziness under which lies the motions of the world..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh dear. The cat will just act like nothing is wrong and all is fine in the world. I feel sorry for the owner of the songbird.

    Very much enjoyed reading this -- very nice imagery in this one, enough to picture the scene and mood, which turned from peaceful to a not-so-nice discovery. :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. what an abrupt change!! cats will be cats...sigh...a lovely poem

    ReplyDelete
  6. This poem really 'grabs' me, Pearl. You have set the scene & carried it out. I can just see that cat's innocent look & feel the sadness the hosts must feel when they realize their precious songbird is gone.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh - the cat's nature is its own.. So sad when all is changing.. Reminds me of the fable of the scorpion and the frog,

    ReplyDelete
  8. A complete surprise but very well plotted.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such a lovely fable of a poem... :D
    Loved the vivid imagery and tone!
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  10. Well penned... I hope you weren't the beautiful bird :-(
    ZQ

    ReplyDelete
  11. lovely images.. watching cats is some sort of meditation :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I was drifting along so beautifully, till the ending.....such is life, and you have captured it so perfectly!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh my goodness, you painted such a peaceful scene, until suddenly... And then you painted that one with telling restraint. Beautifully written, Pearl.

    ReplyDelete
  14. There is absolutely nothing better than waking, "to a cat curled on a plump corner chair."

    ReplyDelete
  15. O oh... though maybe it's as nature intended.

    ReplyDelete
  16. it was a beautiful tragedy - the way your words flow.. how to story unfolds.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh dear! But an excellent use for the wordle words to make this poem.

    ReplyDelete