cat

FULLY OPERATIONAL

three little bags
of lethal fur

at
the foot of my bed
curled up into a ball, brothers
my boys

behaving impeccably because
they evolved to do so
honoring their
obligation in the contract
which they assure me
(in that contrived
voice I am hardwired
to succumb to)
I must
have conveniently forgotten
I did most
certainly sign

little cocky predator
felis lybica, scourge
of
North Africa
apart from
a fresh coat
of paint
it is you, all three of
you,
wild as ever, still
basically the same
testing my
edges, my boundaries, smearing
me with their smell
getting their
best
handle on me

so close in proximity, until
things get
a bit incommesurate
and you
are light years away from me
going full
Schrodinger, full Lewis Carroll

living hair-triggered, yet
kind of
Zen mindful, full-on
Satrtrean being before essence
existential
philosophers

philosophers
with whiskers, and other
unfair advantages
over us
mere humans who
once
worshipped you

recruited to the all-
conquering armies
of the eternal
city

legions of you, since
the army of Empire marches
on its stomach,
entrusted
with the sacred task
to protect
the grain

whither we go, I go,
there you
go too
apparently

and here you are in a flash
out to accompany me
hot wired
for anything, flanks
and rear protected

fully operational
my little legionaries

from whom (how
the hell
exactly did
this happen?) right from
the outset
that die cast, there is no escape

every manoeuver in our dance
executed to perfection

The only role in my life left
for anyone to play
is cat.

A whole bunch
arriving
too late by far
to be in time to
make the audition.

So
being
true to their species
came
up with
other ideas

Ubered their little
selves to my wake
took

over
the place

devoured the
whole spread
everything
on a
saucer or plate

in a bowl
or tureen

sad
that someone
had passed, but

hey, miao,
what the hell

this, most
definitely was
a gig
not worth
missing

BIG CAT

big cat, little cat,
let us not dance around this;
I will touch you regardless,
more than brush your fur

seeing yourself
slink right past me:
as if!

little cat, big cat
those eyes at night
I can tell how
keen they are to leopard me

look here
Mrs Sabre-toothed
all these love wounds
where you nibbled

were it not for love
and due caution
you could well have
severed an artery

nestled between
your two paws, soothed
by your purring,
all that
is ferociously sweet
about you

me and all my poems
bleeding out

WINDOW

my window open
rain
thundering down

a bedraggled cat
caught in the downpour
squeezing his
lithe body
through the burglar guards

sometimes it is good
when natural storms
hit epic proportions

takes the gloss of
political storms, global
clashes that lead
to outright warfare

show us
that little in this moment
is worth elevating

our species
lacking the tactics
and strategy
to find peace at all

my window open
the rain still raging

everything thought here
under the shadow
of getting
washed away

SASHA appears to share a love of writing/literature/poetry with other creatures born in the year of the snake. 🐍

THAT CAT

they all died
all
are alive

that cat
in the hat in the box always finds itself emerging
forever doomed to
survive

sick to the death at
the, possibility
of this terrible solipsism

having to better believe
it’s a fantastic layer cake
of endless simulation

nudge me
if you have a question, feel
you’ve stumbled
upon the meaning

I may not be deceased just
unable to sleep

HERE

OBSERVE

watch this poem
change on you

transform
before your very eyes

splitting
of pathways, sliding
doors

two
complete readings
whole new universes
brought into
being

in one
it goes Schrodinger
and the poor little cat
goes completely
zombie
    uncertain whether
when box
is open
it
   lives or
dies; is dead
          or alive

in another
it goes Oppenheimer
heads out
to New Mexico
wipes

out
half
of Japan

saw the film; he’s the man

and here you are
in state of
superposition

I have
never been super anything

neither
in faith, nor reason

watch this poem watch
us both observe