Still (and Superior) Life in Berlin
for the cats of Kathleen D
American ex-pat cats
They look out windows five floors
Up
They overhear airy conversation
Inherently translating,
Since (and to answer the question)
German cats meow in German
C L Couch
German Rex (naturally)
Sitting on Cats
My week’s occupation
Done with lack of grace
They look at me indifferently
As I feed and water, pet
And play, even attempt
To impose medicine
Within one’s tiny mouth
We make it through—I
Would not give myself a
Good grade for care, though
Not for lack of
Trying
They came to me and then
Stayed away: It’s only you;
Feed us, check the litter
Box,
And leave
But one day, despite ourselves,
I found each cat and got
Down
Eye-to-eye
Looking at one while
Scratching behind the
Ears (the cat’s) and simply
Lying on the floor
So we could see each other
For the second (though
Equal among firsts),
There was something close
By to play with (besides
My heart-strings) and, what
Do you know,
We played
I received an electronic
Missive telling me my
Service was done—now
True cat-caring can
Commence without me
With the right ones at home
Well, we had a heat wave,
Didn’t we—which might
Explicate in part
Royal lethargy
And, if asked again
(Depending on the report
Received by parents),
I’ll prostrate myself in
Service
To liege-lords ruling their
Split-level citadel
Now off to learn something
About post-modern dogs
Gee, Emoji!
This cat is cool
And a gift from a friend
Who knew my cat, too,
The cat who trained me for
Nineteen years, and I never got
It right
Palindromic name, Hannah
A rescue on Hanover Street
Kitten alone, wandering into
Street traffic
I took her in, and she took
Over
Such a fine companion,
As most cats who are left
In power to train us,
Truly are
The emoji makes me think
Of a cheer—maybe it’s the
Wry smile, maybe the sunshine
Color
Gee, Emoji!
Gee, Gee, emoji!
Gee, emoji, you’re so fine,
Want to paste you all the time!
Graphic cool is what you are,
Any shape, you are a star!
Gee! Emoji!
Gee! Gee! Emoji!
We cheer
For our circular cats,
And we are cheered
my friend who sent me the cat
emoji keeps a Facebook place
called One Mom’s Mission
about the joy in having a child
with Down’s Syndrome; my
general ignorance in using
emojis was first ‘fessed to and
challenged in a friendly way by
Annie at What the Woman Wrote
(sorry, Annie, I still don’t know
how to use these things in
anything like an easy way)
ONE MOM’S MISSION (FB)
https://whatthewomanwrote.wordpress.com/
(from a photo-prompt of cows; photo by Annie Spratt)
Meanings
(nebby is evidently a Pittsburgh expression,
a compressing of neighborly and nosey)
definition of a cow: trying to be a horse
of a dog: doesn’t understand the diplomacy of cats
of a cat: one who perceives dogs as pointless
definition of a child: not a miniature adult
of a parent: nervous the length of child-life
a soldier: serving with all there is
definition of democracy: each one matters
of an earth: that without which we do not live
of God: maker; providentially nebby
Willow, on Three Legs
Willow, on three legs—
A wolf, one leg ruined
In a trap
Willow protected now
In sanctuary
We had a feline with
Three legs, one leg
Caught in a trap
She was purebred,
And the vet reasoned
That, once marred in
The trap, the cat
Could not be shown
For ribbons and so
Was discarded
My sister gave the
Siamese an exotic
Name, Scheherazade
(“Shahrazad,” the teller
Of one thousand plus
One tales, the tyrant’s
Wife who lives), and
For seventeen years
We lived with her
She was a gentle cat
Except for one trait:
She was the best
Birder in the cat pride
We kept then
Tragedy turned cat-
Happy life (well, not
So much for certain
Birds): Well done!
Well told,
Scheherazade
May Willow live as
Happily and as whole
(Willow introduced
To me, as with so
Many things, on PBS)
Psalm 16
a song of (USA) Thanksgiving (Day)
The Canadians had their day already.
I wonder if that’s because they’re
more easily, readily thankful.
In the USA, there’s so much to
be thankful for. I grew up in
Pittsburgh, and I like returning
there. Pittsburghers tend to
speak their minds, and their
minds are good. (Their driving’s
better, too.)
I have family. The five of us with
spouses, children of the new
generation, and pets (old, new). We
are scattered, which is sad, though
in our ways we keep in touch.
Friends I have, a small circle. And
I have made it smaller. Not the
happier of moves. But the friends
I have I cherish. They are good
for me, so good. They circle out
in nearness, which is the sense of
those we know and how and when.
I live alone and often feel the
peace of that. (I first typed pace
for peace, and I enjoy that too.)
I sleep badly, which means I have
hours of the day to be awake
and doing such as this. Would
someone else put up with that?
Hannah, my cat of nineteen
years. She is gone now, and
eighteen years were pretty good.
Then she faded fast. Not bad,
all in all. She was the queen and
I her knave. She ruled in blessed
benevolence, scolding me for what
is apt within the catly-noble
mind (which means daily
reprimand for not mind-reading
every whim). Still good, good-humored
company. Now a loss, though better
she go first. She awaits me on the other
side, ready to scold me what else I
missed in mortal time.
Mostly. I have you. Lord, I
know you love me anyway and
always. You love me in darkness
and in light. I am perpetually
astounded. And, yes,
thankful for this, all this, the
plenty that you give.
Thank you, Lord—Love, me
clcouch123 
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