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| Domino (not the transient cat) under his blanket |
the sky pinked, then blacked,
night, last
a hunch-backed kitten
scavenging along the curb
called an unknown name
bounded off across the lot
headlights swinging in/out
spots & discarded lotto tix
36° read the dashboard thermo
as i pulled toward home.
this Orange morning,
a tuft of fur/bone picks itsconcrete plate
again.
a story told in 55 words, for my friend g-man.
a stray kitten i have watched the last couple mornings and if he'd let me i'd take him home. i might be getting as bad as betsy. smiles. yesterday was better than the day before. most of our classes seem more memorials than anything else. today is the last day before thanksgiving break. the kids need it, but like the cat i have been watching, they are resilient. we will make it.
a stray kitten i have watched the last couple mornings and if he'd let me i'd take him home. i might be getting as bad as betsy. smiles. yesterday was better than the day before. most of our classes seem more memorials than anything else. today is the last day before thanksgiving break. the kids need it, but like the cat i have been watching, they are resilient. we will make it.
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69 comments:
I have a hard time walking away from stray kittens.
Breaks my heart!!
Hugs
SueAnn
The sparseness adds such a great deal. Turns an everyday story into something exceptional. It is always an experience to read your narratives.
I really like how you left us room
to join you here! Sometimes I cannot find a place to alight,as your writing can be thick, tight and dense.
( Does that equal=intense?)Anyway this piece leaves room for me to stand and breath- I felt sorrow at the end.
I have all strays at home.
I also wanted to share that I read the interview. It was very good! Nice job both of you,it flowed well! Thanks for doing it!
Yes, cats are resilient, it seems. But I am hoping you are able to convince him to come inside.
Have a great thanksgiving break, Brian.
Nothing quite so sad as a cold and hungry kitten. To bad they grow up to be unrepentant killers.
You are becoming the cat lady. It happens to many folks as they get old(er). (smiles)
Aww...I hope the cat trusts you enough to let you close enough to take him home. He;s not going to last for too long by himself.
Yes, you all need a break.
Good 55.
Life's lessons come when they want not when someone can make it easier by teaching them safely in their seats.
I'm leaving out a bit of cyber milk for that one, Brian.
Of course you will. Glad for your upcoming break.
Enjoy you time cat watching, err I mean time off. Nice poem.
them strays are a breed of their own... great images!
You have a keen observation. I so enjoy it and this being a cat tale makes it especially delightful for me!
Praying for you.
Ohh...I love this, love the concrete plate.
...resilience is one of the secret and love is the other...you have both
LOL well if you get that one
11 more before you have tied Betsy's sun hahaha
Sadly the cat would prob hurt any kitten at my place
And smack it in the face
But yeah they are really resilent too
Glad so are the kids and surely you
The transients are always the most resilient. Keep keeping an eye on those strays; they are the most lovable.
OK, I started breathing again! I half expected her "concrete plate" to be her grave. It is not and she is more lucky than the kids, sigh, and I could see her humped back was she plays with the live things in her path and scoots with them along dusk or dawn. Let someone take her and love her as you imagine. And thank God for resilience and the calms after the storms.
I cannot watch those TV commercials about the stray, injured animals. I cry and want to go get all of them!
Those strays can be hard to adopt. So far the only ones who have stayed with me are the ones who chose me, regardless of what I wanted.
You can make 55 words go on an infinite journey, bri. This is heartbreaking as well as in your face real. Glad things are getting better at school--a rough time for all, losing someone so senselessly and abruptly. It yanks the security blanket of planning and working for the future right out of your hand, but yes, it's part of life and we all have to bend with that storm or break.
Cats and kids are resilient, but we adults try to be, except it seems harder. I'm glad your day was a little better.
So heartbreaking!
Yes kids and cats are resilient. So are you. It's hard to witness the tragedies, but in your profession, they are inevitable and though you'll survive them, they will always hurt.
Yes...you will. What similarities between kids and cats. I certainly see them at home in our boys! they are resilient but it's still hard to think that they have to go through such tough times at such young ages and process, trying to bring reason to something so unfathomable.
Glad you are all wading through the loss. Maybe the Thanksgiving break is coming at just the right time, as the kids will have had several days to process and the vacation will kind of reset the classroom mood for when you get back.
Sad to say, life must go on, eh?
"/
Don't turn into a 'cat lady' Brian! (LOL!)
Oh, this breaks my heart!
just read some of your poetry to that cat and it will follow you where ever you go...smiles
Great poem - you have a big, wonderful heart, may all your students and teachers have a good, restful Thanksgiving.
I'm thinking a bit of cat food each day would win some trust. :-) Hope you and the kitten have a great weekend.
I love Claudia's suggestion :). We are much more psychologically resilient than we think (scientifically proven :)). Be well.
That cat looks just like our Beaver! And stray cats? I swore that I'd be strong, but when little Mini liked to crawl under my Harley whenever the garage door was left open...We now have THREE cats...Grrrrrrr
Loved your feline 55 Son
Thanks for playing, sorry about your little student this week, thanks for your unwavering support, and have a Kick Ass Week-End
Awwww...
but be careful. I got a dozen cats that way. Really. (fortunately I live out in the country so they hang out in the barn)
anyone can be resilient,
good writeup
I hope you all make it---nothing so sad as an abandoned life
Brian...as far as your comment at my place, I wish they did too. A safe place to sleep is a blessing.
I was never told as a child that it was ok to hurt, grieve. Insted I was told that "men don't cry" 18 years later the man that told me that told me that was the worst advice he ever gave anyone.
Your heart feeds me through your kind visits and comments
Happy Aloha Friday!
Comfort Spiral
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><}}(°> ~
I used to think that I'd like to volunteer at the humane society. Our house would be a menagerie if I did. Glad things are easing up at school. Such a hard thing.
You have a big heart and it is wonderful to see... I too have a soft spot for strays, especially this time of year. I adopted one two years ago, and willed her into the house with bits of hotdog and treats. She was so skittish in the beginning, so tiny and frail. Now she is a wonderful addition to our family, and will often nap with me on the couch seeking compaionship and love. Oh and she is great at alerting me to the raccoons too! :)
Glad to know that everything is going back to normal.
I like the framing of last night and its colors ~
Have a wonderful weekend Brian ~
Aw, you really are my twin. smiles.
Poor little thing. I hope you get him eventually. Keep a ziplock of catfood in your car. :)
It's easier to repo a car, though, I'm telling you. ha. Those strays are so wary of us.
Break will be good for everyone. Thanksgiving will be empty for those families, though. Hard!
I hope that you are able to capture the kitten and tame it. I know it would have a good home with you.
There was never a doubt in my mind that you would be the savior of stray cats!
Hoping that kitten finds its home...
I always wonder what happens to stray cats in countries with winter. Hope it finds a home.
I am sure you deserve the break too. Hope the kitten likes the poetry ......lol. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family..
I can picture that kitten. i wish we had a stray to get rid of the voles!
Brian, a bittersweet story. So many feral cats, or those who were adopted and then tossed out when their owners got done with school or simply tired of them. Feral cats are difficult, but not impossible, and c'mon, you have a break coming up. Don't you need some added anxiety? (wink) Seriously, nicely done, and have a peaceful Thanksgiving (or as we call it, Commemoration of the Enslavement of Indigenous Peoples Pretending to be a Celebration!).
A sad image, portrayed with great beauty. New follower here, over from Tina's. Nice to meet you!
Everything about this post is just so rich, Brian. From the photo of pampered kitty to your final words about stray (cat and kids?) if just really got to me. I hope you can coax that little guy to come with you. In the meantime, we have three kittens (feral) hiding in the doghouse out back, allowing me to feed them and that is all. And winter approaches....
Very strong poem. I especially liked the beginning reversal of night and last. So so sorry about this loss. K.
Thank you this is wonderful, and painful and lovely, and you
Beautifully vivid, Brian... resilient indeed. It might hit them hard, though, during the break, though... praying.
Glad the kids are showing resilience. We just had another high school suicide in the community. Way too many of them around here...popular kids with great athletic career futures already set up. I don't get it, but it sure scares me.
Hope you can catch that cat...or you could send him to my compost pile...smiles.
Tina @ Life is Good
http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com/
all this is so hard and sad. Resilence is good and important but we have our pain inside...ah is hard
My kid said me this morning why if Im good person I have to believe these things?? whay the world is so? and I dont have answer, I said only we have to live, OMY
send you love and huggs
I predict he'll be yours before too long. After all, you're already his.
perfect poem and commentary -
"thanksgiving break. the kids need it, but like the cat i have been watching, they are resilient. we will make it"
only wish you had the kitty inside with ya'll, maybe eventually ;-)
Cat Love...I cannot.take.another.cat.
(but I want to)
Get that cat with snacks. Smelly Fancy Feast should work...
Meeeow...Purrrrr...and in the end, everything wil be OK.
It is the time between then and now, each day, each happening
But, Dear God, could You just slow it down a tad. or maybe stop classes--for recess, ya know?
Thanks!
Reading your work always make me smile. Wonderful poem and such dedication to LIFE around you, Brian. I am so proud to know you as you are one of the most compassionate and humble person with hidden gifts. Blessings to you and your beautiful family.
Mine is here
Have you a TRULY BLESSED SUNDAY and a WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!!
hugs
shakira
Oh, this reminds me of Gypsi, my first cat. He looked exactly like Sammy, and was a stray kitten that wandered into my apartment in NC one day.;)) He had an exciting life and even got to experience relocation to Europe.;))
xoxo
Everyone in my family has a soft spot for strays. At the university where I work, there is a couple that leaves food out for the ferals, and occasionally a student will befriend a feral and take it home.
According to the animal rescue, my cat was found at a junior college. She's very smart, so I'm inclined to believe them.
resiliant. sigh.
If my husband wasn't "allergic" to cats (He does cough when they curl around his face, but otherwise....) well, I'd have more than two. :)
So sad..
Always noticing the forgotten, aren't you? Maybe he'll let you bring him home soon :)
you know you will make it as will the kids. i hope the kitten does, too.
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