.
Surprised cat, Leipzig: photo by Lipedia, July 2010
in grievous deity my cat
walks around
he walks and around and around
with
electric tail and
push-button
eyes
he is
alive and
plush and
final as a plum tree
neither of us understands
cathedrals or
the man outside
watering his
lawn
if I were all the man
that he is
cat --
if there were men
like this
the world would
begin
he leaps up on the couch
and walks through
porticoes of my
admiration.
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994): startled into life like fire, from Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame: Selected Poems 1955-1973, 1974
11 comments:
he leaps up on the couch
They never seem to get muddy the way dogs do (and goats). Why not?
Artur.
If I may Tom...
'cause cats can't stand
the feel of earth on fur
like certain girls
don't want you
pawing their skin.
Dawgs on the other hand,
'specially herders & killers,
take pride like swine:
their canine shoulder
to the muddy grindstone.
I prefer dogs to tuotsest but I love Hank
Great cat, but surprised? I don't know about that. Curtis
Funny thing Tom. I spent the morning writing something in my head. I'll show that to you sometime later .. i.e. once that I actually finish it. Not a great poem
but then what is?
They may not like it, Kent, but sometimes mud and puddles are inevitable. I suppose they take a cat scan and slink off to the dry cleaners.
Artur.
irresistible
I think the reason why cats don't get furniture dirty is not because they have any innate respect for furniture but because they are so naturally fastidious. Those extensive cat scans (for fleas, zits & c.) and consequent bathings and groomings are a joy to behold. Bukowski reveled in and probably to some extent identified with the mobs of ferals with which he surrounded himself down in San Pedro.
Curtis, the photographer said that the cat had been startled by some sudden noise...
"startled by some sudden noise" --the 8th life of boisterous Buk ?
That should make seven come eleven -- if Fibonacci was Serious.
Oh, my, just when I think I've had enough of Mr. B., along comes:
"in grievous deity my cat
walks round ..."
"neither of us understands
cathedrals ..."
"(he) walks through
porticoes of my
admiration."
Absolutely perfect.
Don
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