Not playing, hard to get

Not playing
We worship	the ground that she walks on so gracefully
We worship	her bowl of unworthy food
We worship	the bed that she sleeps on, so elegantly
We worship	her bowl of clean water untouched
We worship	her whiskers she twitches so elegantly
We worship	the sight of her play toys untouched
We worship	her fur coat, designed so gracefully
We worship	the sight of our unworthy couch
We worship	her owners she ignores so convincingly
We worship	their unworthy efforts to get touched
We worship	the people who serve her so diligently
We worship	our unrequited attempts to be loved
Hard to get

 

In my next life

In my next life I want to be a scallop
and watch you with 110 eyes

In my next life I want to be an octopus
to embrace you with eight arms

In my next life I want to be a hagfish
and love you with all four of my hearts

In my next life I want to be a sponge
to kiss you with all my mouths
– correction –
with all my orifices whose function is to ingest food

In my next life I want to be a crocodile
and bite you like you’ve never been bitten before

In my next life I want to be a sun fish
I’d produce three million eggs for you

In my next life I want to be a pistol shrimp
my snap almost as hot as the sun

But these things
don’t add up
because
I’m just a silly old cow
who can’t stomach you

You’re
A skunk
– blinding me
A hairy frog
– you’d break your own bones to create claws
A Texas horned lizard
– shooting blood and chemicals at me from a distance

I choke on your quills
move away
and wait
for my next life

I know I can save you

https://www.animalanswers.co.uk/animals/which-animal-has-the-largest-number-of-eyes/

http://www.sciencefocus.com/qa/top-10-which-animals-have-strongest-bite

https://www.animalanswers.co.uk/blog/whats-the-noisiest-animal-on-earth/

https://www.animalanswers.co.uk/blog/animal-self-defence-experts/

Today’s prompt was to write a poem that engages with a strange and fascinating fact. Some day during #NaPoWriMo I wrote this draft, and I figured it suits the prompt rather well. I’m too tired to invest in a final version though!

30 poems in 30 days… we’ve did it again. As usual National Poetry Writing Month has been an inspiration, fun, exhausting and full of wonderful connections.

A great big shoutout to my favourite #NaPoWriMo website and the people who invest so much energy in it. This is what is known about them (copied and pasted from the website):

“NaPoWriMo is owned and operated by Maureen Thorson, a poet living in Maine. She started writing a poem a day for the month of April back in 2003, posting the poems on her blog. When other people started writing poems for April, and posting them on their own blogs, Maureen linked to them. After a few years, so many people were doing NaPoWriMo that Maureen decided to launch an independent website for the project. This site was designed by the very nice people at 2the9design, who know waaaaayyyyy more about back-end coding stuff than Maureen does.  But this site isn’t meant to be “official,” or to indicate ownership or authority over the idea of writing 30 poems in April. There is no corporate sponsorship of this project. No money is intended to change hands anywhere. Maureen just likes poems and wants to encourage people to write them. The site doesn’t ask for your email address, or any other personal information. Heck, you don’t even have to give your name.”

Maureen, I hope you’re in as much awe of the beautiful effects your website sparks (creativity, world wide connections, personal growth, etc.) as I am!

By Angela van Son

 

Cat’s meow

Kitten
purring softly
at the farm
We await your arrival
eagerly

I used the elevenie prompt to capture a real life moment. The neighbours of my parents in law have a nest of kittens, and if all goes well one of them will be ours in six weeks.

It took me a while to publish this one, because I wanted to add a photo. We only have one or two weeks of waiting to go now. This picture was taken when we first met our new housemate. She wasn’t very eager to stay on my lap, so we cuddles her brother or sister after that.

Save a prayer

I prey for food in my stomach

I prey for a sturdy nest

I prey for water when I need it

I prey I teach my children to do their best

I pray that this hawk doesn’t see me

I pray that our children sit still

I pray for the danger to be over

’cause I’m hungry and eat I will

I say thanks for the food in my stomach

I say thanks for the safety of our nest

I say thanks to the mice that I ate today

Tomorrow my children will be back for the rest

(#NaPoWriMo day 2 The prompt was to write from an animal’s perspective)