Best Nine Lives Poems
He stares at his liquor bottle, and remembers the time
he sacrificed his life to the ocean depths;
a dolphin steadily rushed him to the shallows,
then allowed the evening currents to carry him to the shores.
That night he erased the X he had put on his calendar;
the day he was to die.
A few weeks back, he had tied a noose round his neck;
he let go the chair, only for the rope to cut.
"Am I cursed?!" he shouted.
He wondered whether Fate kept him alive,
to let him chew on the memories of his Ex,
which hurt like hell.
One fortnight, he even ate a lot of peanuts,
forgetting that it’s only in his dreams he was seriously
allergic to them.
He’s really eager to die,
but death is always shying away from him;
existence is a riddle he isn’t in the mood to respond to….
Date of Entry: 25/08/2017
Nine lives are bestowed upon a cat to live,
In this world full of danger we travel through.
None may escape the final time appointed to them,
Even the cat has it's last moment to breathe.
Living a life of adventure, demands some extra chances,
It's the curious cat, trapped, who really needs it.
Vain cats cleaning themselves on a slim, lofty ledge.
Excitable cats trying to catch the mysterious red dot.
Silly cats flipping their tails at a dog pack.
For the "Nine" contest.
================
When Duke arrives,
don't be around...
No cat survives,
when Duke arrives.
Need all nine lives?
Don't make a sound!
When Duke arrives -
don't be around.
================
She gasps in shallow puffs; eyes half – lit
Thick fur once ebon littering the floor
With a belly that dangled like a lump of yarn,
On a vicious night when stars grew still.
Candy used to greet me, wagging short tail
A ‘meow’ strengthening me through rough days
Pouncing on my lap, she always got her whims
Like extra tuna and balls to play hide-and –seek.
Slowly, a feline gait lost its usual prance
Went through her pain, as she did with mine.
Had a few mishaps before, yet Candy prevailed
A tough bobtail gifted with lucky streaks.
While she looked at me with a fading glimpse
My heart bore the holes, why now?
Aren’t cats supposed to have nine lives
When they told me, Candy had to rest.
As she whimpered her deepest last,
I couldn’t bear the cry, the whiplash.
Hugging the urn where she now lays,
The ninth was ours, in soul and remembrances.
Elegy Form Contest of Broken Wings
11/14/2013
nette onclaud
I struck out on my own around a year old
life was so full of fun, so many things with
which to play, a leaf scuttling by, a rustle
in the undergrowth. I was enthralled.
I stood on a road watching intently
a little mouse. A car shot past bowling
me over and slicing off half of my tail.
It stung like hell and dripped blood.
Finding a cool stream I placed my tail
within, oh the blessed relief I knew
I had been lucky, one life now done.
My next life also flashed by as
hunter became prey, I ran for
my life from a pack of hungry
wolves barely escaping their
razor sharp fangs and hot breath.
Fishing for salmon I ventured
in too deep and got swept away
tumbling through rapids, banging
into rocks lucky to be washed ashore.
Bedraggled I lie in the sun
I swallowed way more water
than I drink in two days.
Shivering as I dry off.
Maybe four is the charm
as now I am much wiser.
Oh no I followed my nose
to an enticing exciting smell.
It led me straight into a mire
churned up by rooting pigs
I was being sucked down
exhausted I finally lay still.
Well a miracle happened
the muddy slime released
its deathly grip and I was
able to slowly wriggle free.
What a state my fur was in
muddy slime all over me
only one thing to do and
that's take a hated bath.
As I rolled in the shallows
I felt a change in pressure
and ran for my life chased
by angry snapping jaws.
Piranhas I had disturbed
Nearly ripped to shreds
I slipped away to rest up.
Unfortunately as I drifted
off I started getting stung
I was under attack from
angry bees I was lying
right over their hive.
Fast as a streak I headed
yet again for the river
and dunked myself again
and again till they were gone.
Seven lives already used up
and I was still only three years.
A few years past uneventfully
I am getting the hang of things.
One dark stormy night
sheltering in a leafy tree.
It got hit by lightning
knocking me to the ground.
Fur still burning I looked
a real fright, a cartoon cat
with hair on end whilst all
I really wanted was a quiet life.
Well I have used up eight
of my nine. I now mainly
sleep my days away. The
urge of adventure quietly rests.
My day will come soon
now as age takes its toll.
I am stiff and nearly blind
so I lay down a final time.
Nine Lives Haiku
Cat wakes in dawn air ,
Morning dew on every hair.
Birds singing in pair.
Eyes made of glass,
Watch the seasons turn and pass,
Behind tips of grass.
Whiskers are twitching
And seem slightly bewitching.
They leave skin itching.
After a washing,
His tail can be seen swishing
as he sits fishing.
He hears every sound:
roaring butterflies’ wings pound
and rumble the ground.
A tiny pink nose ,
Stops to smell every red rose
Before they can close.
His paws leave no trace.
An attribute of his race
is to step with grace.
He slips through shadows
To the moon’s silver meadow,
Each star a window.
Free of kids and wives,
Defying gods with nine lives,
Cat naps while man strives!
-Tiffany Ragsdale 2009
A collaboration w/Richard Lamoureux
Her child arrived in a secret way,
hiding him nine months a heavy chore
No daddy just some soldier home from war
Poor little girl, woke up sad every day
She found a cat in the cradle
with a silver spoon and a ladle
Her baby drowned in the tub,
sometimes love can be fatal
Heavy sighs under the moon
Passion made a girl a mommy to soon,
baby born she didn't know what to do
Little boy blue he cried a sad tune
She found a cat in the cradle
with a silver spoon and a ladle
Her baby drowned in the tub,
sometimes love can be fatal
The baby cried all day and every night,
even soft blankets can be wrapped too tight
She placed him in a bath filled with her tears,
leaving him there, she turned off the light
From Vietnam her soldier boy came home,
the first thing he did was reach for the phone
There was no answer, she'd been taken away
That really was a most peculiar day
He found a cat in the cradle
with a silver spoon and a ladle
Their baby drowned in a tub,
sometimes love can be fatal
He would have been two just the other day,
but life was tragically taken away
He should have been protected from life's harms,
just a happy child in his mother's arms
Lullaby nightmare, a young mommy so blue
Soldier cries for the child he never knew
His baby arrived in a secret way
Sadly, there was nothing that he could do
Many thanks to Richard Lamoureux
for this enriching collaborative endeavor.
Credit goes to Harry Chapin's song, "Cat's in the Cradle."
Nine Lives Removed From Royal Dig Nitty ©?ß
(alternately titled: lion eyes hide sharp claws)
Aye attest tubby reincarnated
from one male Russian Blue
species Felis silvestris catus
named Morris if that gives a clue,
and during my fuzzy past
hence, asthma “Cats Cradle”
segued into kitten hood
fur hum lee established
type cats as (tin pan) alley cat,
a rather litter boxed gritty debut
t'wood become (later in life) tabby
quick as greased lightening
snatching in the air,
when tender vittles flew,
technically got fired (acquiring
appropriate nick names)
as fame (like a bushy cat tail) grew
viz perfect back up crooner
for “Cat Stevens”,
or lead singer for
the "Stray Cats" oddly
coupled, featured, and
incorporated with the guru
Horton Hears A Hoo,
yes him Elephant resembling
a humungous mandrake
from the, "Animals"
whose body heat could
easily melt an igloo,
whereby Eskimos accepted charity from
Korean philanthropists named Joo
(founders of Palaces for Pachyderms)
these lumbering creatures possessed
an exemplary photographic memory
(rivaling that of the amazing
deceased idiot savant
Kim Peek) knew
practically every detail
incorporating trunk their lines
(and could track missing link,
when felines shared common ancestor
but,...such petty files would most likely boar
and go way off course, and hence
will shy away being extempore
favoring a deliberate fore
ray padding around basically ignore
ring any rhyme or reason
suddenly ending this persiflage,
and thence to thee bon jour.
minty
green eyes
this
night
walks a
black cat
with nine
lives
Be on sensory alert and always stay curious.
Speak out against wrongs and what makes you furious.
Use caution when out on the street.
Don't just rub up on any one you meet.
Stay finicky about any thing you eat..
Pay close attention to your hygiene,
always keep those front paws clean..
If you want to live those nine lives, better
find time to exercise..
When your energy is feeling zapped it's
okay to curl up and take that nap..
My thoughtful vet phoned to say that my cat was not dead, just asleep, permanently.
Written 5th April 2018
For Epigram contest sponsored by Deborah Guenthar Beachboard
I stand alone on guard
Upon this ancient wall
I see the city's now aflame
Rome has raised
its final curtain call
This world will never be the same
The Goths have crested
The seventh hill
They killed my son and my wife
I guard nothing
But I'm standing 'Still'
Until they come to take my life
I do not know
What the future yearns
Will there be another Rome?
And will it last
"Till I return
To once more call it home
And will it make
The same mistakes
To cause the same collapse
To rise again
Until it breaks
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
By Jerrius Curtius Minimus
Nine lives removed from royal dignity
Five days after
getting acquainted with darling cats
pampered like queens courtesy
thee eldest daughter
and her partner acquired as kittens
reminiscence occurred regarding
one particular four footed feline
my late mother doted over.
Lion eyes hide predatory wage
sharp retractable sharp claw
never did the late Sage
exhibit talon nor ferocious jaw
even when getting his nails clipped,
said gentle cat infrequently
sunk daggers into soft human skin,
but upon completion
of aforementioned onerous task,
he voicelessly, soundlessly, passively,
manly, joyfully did withdraw.
Aye attest tubby reincarnated
(as well mine eldest daughter's beau)
from one male Russian Blue
species Felis silvestris catus
named Morris if that gives
a handy dandy clue,
and during my fuzzy past
hence, asthma “Cats Cradle”
segued and Atlas
shrugged off kitten hood
fur hum lee established
type cats as (tin pan) alley cat,
a rather litter boxed gritty debut
t'wood become (later in life) tabby
quick as greased lightning
snatching in the air,
when tender vittles flew,
technically got fired (acquiring
appropriate nicknames)
as fame (like a bushy cat tail) grew
viz perfect back up crooner
for “Cat Stevens”,
or lead singer for
the "Stray Cats" oddly
coupled, featured, and
incorporated with the guru
Horton Hears A Hoo,
yes him Elephant resembling
a humongous mandrake
from the, "Animals"
whose body heat could
easily melt an igloo,
whereby Inuits accepted charity from
Korean philanthropists named Joo
(founders of Palaces for Pachyderms)
these lumbering creatures possessed
an exemplary photographic memory
(rivaling that of the amazing
deceased idiot savant
Kim Peek), he knew
practically every detail
incorporating page number, punctuation
plus citing word for word
never truncating, omitting,
nor jumbling... any lines,
and could track missing link,
when felines shared common ancestor
but,...such petty files
would most likely boar
and go way off course, and hence
will shy away being extempore
favoring a deliberate fore
ray padding around basically ignore
ring any rhyme or reason
suddenly ending this persiflage,
and thence to thee bon jour,
cuz yours truly off
in a huff to bang a lore.
(alternately titled: lion eyes hide sharp claws
unless made irate, then yours truly
bares his sharp talons
on all of mine faux pas).
Aye attest tubby reincarnated
from one male Russian Blue
species Felis silvestris catus
named Morris if that gives a clue,
and during my fuzzy past
hence, asthma “Cats Cradle”
segued into kitten hood
fur hum lee established
type cats as (tin pan) alley cat,
a rather litter boxed gritty debut
t'wood become (later in life) tabby
quick as greased lightning
snatching in the air,
when tender vittles flew,
technically got fired (acquiring
appropriate pet nicknames)
as fame (like a bushy cat tail) grew
viz perfect back up crooner
for “Cat Stevens”,
or lead singer for
the "Stray Cats" oddly
coupled, featured, and
incorporated with the guru
Horton Hears A Hoo,
yes him Elephant resembling
a humungous mandrake
from the, "Animals,"
whose body heat could
easily melt an igloo,
whereby Eskimos accepted charity from
Korean philanthropists named Joo
(founders of Palaces for Pachyderms),
these lumbering creatures possessed
an exemplary photographic memory
(rivaling that of the amazing
deceased idiot savant
Kim Peek) knew
practically every detail
incorporating trunk hated lines
(and could track missing lynx),
when felines shared common ancestor
but,...such petty files would most likely boar
and go way off course, and hence
I will shy away being extempore
favoring a deliberate fore
ray padding around basically ignore
ring any rhyme or reason
suddenly ending this persiflage,
and thence to thee bon jour.
Fu#king hell, I can’t hear - these screaming shells, this banging everywhere!
Jesus Christ I can’t even see the enemy over there!
Lock and load, squeeze the trigger and go these streets of brick and rubble, no cover or safety anywhere!
I can’t see or hear or be a fighter in this hell, what the hell am I doing here?
The thunder bangs, machine gun rounds, smoke and screaming everywhere..
Trapped between these walls the Tiger Tank seals the exit hole, I’ve emptied my gun on steel - the gunner turns his sights on me. Have I used up all nine lives… I watch his barrel turn, this god damn broken ankle hurts…
Oh my Jesus Christ..
…this is the end of me!