Birds & Cats: cinquains

IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Alarmed
cacophany--
a robber in the gum:
the crow retreats with starlings in
pursuit.
~~~~ 2003

ELIZABETH CALICO SAYS:
Tuna --
while I like to
lick the can, I don't like
the 9-Lives brand of tunafish
cat food!

~~~2003



Playing

in the high grass,

only his tail showing,

the young cat bats at the yellow

flower.

~~~PL 2013

Boots sits

on the Ford roof

surveying his green world

full of birds & squirrels. There goes a

bluejay.

~~~2013 

Raining.
All outside cats
run in when I open
the door: Ebonyzer, Blackie
and Bibbs.
~~~2014




Angry
mockingbird mom
scolds, divebombs Boots-the-cat
for merely walking around in
the yard.
~~~2014

Passing
by the window,
I see a bluebird at
the birdbath. It dips in twice, then
flies off.
~~~2015

Daddy
bluebird bathes. Soon,
a robin flies in, up
in a menacing leap. But Dad's
not scared.
~~~2016

PL dba lovepat press


Fickle February: poems

 

CINQUAINS

 

A warm

winter day. I

bring four smallish houseplants

outside for a spate of fresh air.

Me, too.

 

 

Doves call,

dogs bark and folks

pass, returning from work.

Nearby, a robin chitters. Oh,

such peace.

 



Perfect

as a flower-

show speciman, except

the iris blossoms several months

early.

 

 

Heater

warming the cats,

while I use a lap robe--

gift from my son last Christmas--to

keep warm.

 

 

Racket

in the dining

room--small gray legs climbing

the screen until I rap the loose

window.

 

 

The whump

of the blackbirds

leaving. Another whump

when they returned. The airplane adds

a drone.

 



November sights - short poems

a flower bed in autumn

 

CST again

the flaming sassafras grove

and the frisky squirrel

[2007]

 

 

fallen leaves hide

the birdbath water ... cat works

at getting a drink

[2012]

 

the family of cats

on my front-porch WELCOME mat

are NOT welcome

[2011]

 

yesterday's brilliance--

today, the red-maple's leaves

on the sodden ground

[2004]

 

out-of-season bloom

on the japonica limb

a cardinal rests

[2006]

 

mid-November

a transplanted violet

blooming

[2002]

 

kitchen window

full of begonia cuttings

and violet leaves

[2012]

 

bully blue jay

guarding

 the birdbath

three robins nearby

[2015]

 



August poems - cinquain sequences

Thank goodness for air conditioners

 

 

 

 

Grass needs water, too

 

I pull

grass by handfuls

from the newly-planted

holly and azaleas, grass that

grew like

 

ivy,

thieving water

meant only for the shrubs.

At least, in this arid summer,

grass lives

 

and thrives.

On my knees, my

fingers, like lips of cows

cropping pasture hay, tear at its

trespass.

~~~~
 

The Contest

 

Hearing

cicada's call

nearby, I look to see

the cat, which has batted it to

the grass,

 

and now

sits guard, teasing,

ignoring eerie screams.

Flyswatter in hand, I rescue

the beast,

 

flicking

it. Flying low,

the insect leaves, but cat

gives chase, bats it down again. It

escapes.

~~~

~~~

c PL 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

POEMS WRITTEN during the month of JUNE in various years

Greye (left) and Boots, co-owners of Couchwood, PL

 

 



MYSTERY

On some
days, poems just
bubble up. Today, 4
flowed through my pencil before eight
a. m.
[PL, 6.28.'13, actual]
~~

T. S. DON- a found poem

Who'd have
ever thought a
tropical storm would be
a looked-forward-to event for
farmers?
[PL, 6.22. '12, AD-G, K. Heard/ R. Johnson]
~~

TO PUNJAB POLICE - a found poem

Edict:
Shrink your waistlines
to 38 inches
or below. Otherwise, you're off
the street.
[PL, 6. 19. '12, News]
~~

THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Oh, my!
The neighborhood's
gone down--dogs on two sides!
But, wait! There's a butterfly ... and
birdsong.
[PL, 6.19. '12, actual]
~~

I'M NOT MOVING

Gray cat
Boots merely lies
on the cool concrete porch,
yet the wrens seem agitated.
Too bad.
[PL, 6. 19. '12, actual]
~~
~~

soughing of the wind

hard rain
on the chimney cap--
the wind chime
~~

windstorm
rattling this old house--
my shallow breaths
~~

soughing of the wind
silenced . . . the rising roar
of the plane's passing
~~

up and down,
cats in, cats out--
I bang my heel
~~

no ice cream--
I try meditating
on haiku
[after Santoka Taneda, from Haiku Mind, by P. Donegan]

~~~~~~
c 2014, lovepat press, PL

Summer poems before summer's gone again

Google image

 

HAIKU

 

a lone gardenia

blooming on a branch

I did not prune

~~~~
 

early morning--

robin forages from

newly-mown lawn

 ~~~~

 

SENRYU

 

a dose

of The Bobbsey Twins

before bedtime

 ~~~~
 

one month later

I restart my daily

haiku readings

~~~~
 

FIBONACCI

 

"At Dairy Hollow"

 

Long

dead

trees killed

by climbing

ivy grown so long

it falls. The vines sway in the wind.

~~~~
 

CINQUAIN

 

"Fragile looking"

 

Tiny

web between two

split-leaf philodendron

leaves at risk of demolition

by wind.

 ~~~~
 

"New Players"

 

The cats

chase each other

through the yard where children

and grown-ups used to play softball

work-up.

~~~~ 

c lovepat press, 2013





Journey through July

"Weather Change"

Wished for,
begged for, prayed for
for days--finally the
summer weather pattern aligns:
it rains!!

         I could
         have predicted
         it for today: I woke
         up sneezing, dripping--always a
         sure sign.

The grass,
the flowers, trees,
rivers--and my car--all
needed a life-giving drink. Prayers
answered.
~~~

ACs off
and windows open
   --in July?
~~~

great slabs of bark
at the base of the oak
a pine seedling
~~~

mockingbird's
warning click and buzz--
the cat too close
~~~

Mostly about cats

Greye (foreground) and Boots

 

Haiku

 

mockingbird

hassling puss-named-Boots

who's too close for comfort

~~~

 

kitten scampers

to old tomcat Greye, then

thinks better of it

~~~

 

a bird on the gutter--

seeing the cat below,

it flies

~~~

 

the two kittens

ignoring Mom's moving tail

play with each other

~~~

 

Cinquain

 

"Children First at the Food Bowl"

 

After

her kittens eat,

Mother takes her turn. Oops,

babies aren't through. Again, she waits

a turn.

~~~

 



February's (Rain) Fallout

Poems by Pat

ice pellets
brighten the valleys
of the roof
~~~

icicles--
yet it's thundering
this morning
~~~

Morning
turns dark as dusk.
Ominous thunder warns
of more bad weather to come: rain,
then ice.
~~~

During
the thunderstorm
the four cats are nowhere
to be seen. I wonder if they're
praying.
~~~

"Jon Nichols' photo, AR TIMES-2/14/13"

Today
a robin, wings
upstretched, feet unflexed, seemed
to hover, like a hummingbird,
before

sumac's
clusters of red
seeds. Just one second more,
and the bird would have grasped the stalk
and dined.
###

Cats keep me company

Greye (near) and Boots

 

Dealing with Greye while sitting outside during an early mid-August morning

 

I.

"Make up

your mind!" I tell

the cat, poised at the door.

"I'm not retired just to serve you,

old man!"

 

II.

"Stop it!"

No sooner out

than the cat meows to

go back inside. "I'm not moving--

not yet!"

~~~~

 

Three senryu

 

playful longhair jumps

at the hem of teen's skivvies

while he's still in them

 

pesky cat

pawing around

in my purse pocket

 

I open new cheese

for the last two crackers~

cat arching his back

~~~~

 

A cat poem by the late Hazel Gaither, Arkadelphia:

 

"To A Cat"

You never even lift a claw

Or catch a pantry mouse,

Yet you enjoy a pampered life

And dominate this house.

 

I marvel that you sway us so,

And question: "What's he got?"

You answer with your mystic eyes:

"Charisma, dear, that's what!"

~~~~

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press





... Hello to April--again

"Anniversary"

Six-year
azaleas, lush
with pink florescence,
a memorial to Mom from
her friends.
~~~

tiger swallowtail
stopping by the azaleas,
then the dianthus
~~~

"The Large and Small of It"
A young
boy in flip-flops
walks on rails beside huge
wheels of the last locomotive
built for

Union
Pacific line
in 1944--
this day, used for historical
display.
~~~

a strong burst of wind
sheers off a leg-sized limb
one foot from my car
~~~

"Games"
Two black
cats interrupt
my outside reading with
one chasing the other around
the house,

like we
children did when
playing Ante-Over
(Auntie Over?). I wonder which
cat won.
~~~

Kum Ba Ya
over and over ... singing
his cat to sleep
~~~

the family scattered --
Easter lunch for two
at Taco Bell
~~~

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press
See my prose blog at Pitty Patter (pittypatter-pittypatter.blogspot.com)

Aaaaah! December with all its poem prompts

SENRYU

eager
to take down autumn's decor
and get to Christmas
~~~

CINQUAIN
"A Warm December 2nd"

I gild
gourds and paint two
boards, repot oxalis,
mums, then nail roof tacks to secure
the screens.
~~~

LIMERICK

There once was a writer named Rhon
Whose sentences never ran on.
The harder she'd trot,
The behinder she got,
But call her a sluggard? non non
~~~

CINQUAIN
"Enigma"

With all
the rain, you'd think
window-sill, under-eave
plants would be wet. But they all look
thirsty.
~~~

HAIKU

snow still falling
but only from the trees
a lone cardinal
~~~

HAIKU

one of the new cats
steps gingerly
the snowy grass
~~~

The Atmosphere of Autumn

CINQUAIN
The sweet
odor of sawn
lumber drifts from neighbor's,
adds to sparkle of just-watered
garden.
~~~
CINQUAIN

"Mandevilla"

"Hello,
pretty flower,"
I say to the pink bloom
that faces me when the swivel
stops. "Hi."
~~~

CINQUAIN

"Who Taught Who(m)?"

The cats,
outside all night,
head-butted at their food
dish. Did athletes learn this action
from pets?
~~~

SENRYU

in the metal jaw
of the clipboard ...sizeable
sheaf of manuscript
--idea from Hotchner, Papa Hemingway, p.72
~~~

SEN-NEWS*
(* a designation of my own)

"Occupy Wall Street"

he is skilled, jobless
and pessimistic, yet he
whips out an iPhone
~~~

c 2011 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press

I've lost count, but I'm improving, swear-wise

The day after last week’s post, I did so well, even tho I spilled coffee down my white terry robe.
All day, I refrained from ugly words. While I was lying down mid-afternoon, I heard a noise from the chimney opening above the gas log fireplace. I rose to investigate. No openings in the chimney, but soon, one of the feral cats—the pregnant one—jumped out of the darkness above the fire unit (only the pilot burned, of course, on this warm, but breezy day).
Well, when I saw the cat, I swore. Thinking it may have been 'fixed' Boots who hid from me there, I called and the gray interloper scrunched out of the corner where she was trapped (how strong these little things are when frightened!) and flew out of sight. I followed her to the kitchen. She had jumped into a screened-in but open window, and before I could opwn the door for her to escape, she had pushed out the screen and fled. Second swear. I had to go out and reinsert the screen into its guides and secure it at the bottom. As I said, these boogers are strong, pregnant or not.
I found a way to use the quarters I've collected in my effort to 'give up' swearing: by purchasing items most needed by children and families in the Methodist Family Health program's "Get Up and Give" (not give up) collections:
socks, underwear, diapers, laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, paper towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, toilet paper, books, coloring books, crayons and markers, board games and backpacks and duffel bags.
And at the same time, I'll guard my mouth continuously.

February: short month; short poems

hawk eyeing the squirrel
it followed to a cypress
squirrel eyes the hawk, too

(picture by Rick McFarland,
Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
~~
yesterday, plucking
6-inch frozen stems with buds
now, yellow showing
~~
without those who care
no reason to make
snow ice cream
~~
cat sitting in snow
black on white
next glance, only white
~~
cat stalking leaves
not quite buried
by the snow
~~
cardinal, bluejay
bright against snow-laden gray
of bare branches
~~
five inches of snow
yet she bundles up and car crawls
five miles to the gym
~~
on the snowy heap
of garbage a handful
of wilted jonquils
##
c 2011 - Pat Laster, dba lovepat press