they howl because I’m gone
they yowl because I’m back
lamenting pets never satisfied
a monkey, llama and giant yak
across the dark lake a rusty blade waited in the cold wet grass
two copperhead snakes slithered past each with a secret task
a frog hopped by on his way to get eaten by the snakes
the blade giggled a bit as the frog was devoured by the big one
the other snake slithered off, looking for something tasty.
rusty blade could relate, he was ready to take a bite of something himself.
He had tasted potatoes, carrots, steak, pork, and now fish.
There was nothing that he did not like to carve into
something small but fast rushes toward the blade, what is that?
rusty blade regrets that no one ever shared an encyclopedia with him
He had no name for the object, but he still wanted a taste.
He sliced into its leg, and heard a loud horrible yowl. He loved that!
Night undresses the city
her warts and gaping wounds
the stench of her river of stale urine…
Swollen feet wrapped
in rags of sweat and onion
pretending to make a living
in the cathedral of no communion
of pimps and whores who prowl
the very streets where
slick suits of daylight
whored just hours before
of alleycats and strays
who dare not yowl
or claw
by light of day …
Darkness, too, innocent love sequesters
~ one back-alley stairway up
from child molesters
Dogs howl, people also,
that moonful yowl is a sustaining thread,
a link to soul.
Most folks beat the bushes
looking for God knows what?
Only those who've done with howling
get it -got it - know it -
they've got that sustaining thread,
even so, now and again,
everyone’s still got to bay a bit,
just like any other dawg,
even so.
I wanna retire but I’m barely hanging on.
Lost the fire in my belly but I still log on.
Working hard every day, dreaming to be free,
But can’t afford it in this economy.
Slaving in a sweat shop singing the blues,
Ain’t got time for a Caribbean cruise.
I wanna retire but I’m barely hanging on,
Wondering where all my freedom has gone.
The price of eggs has me crying foul,
But Uncle Sam turns a deaf ear when I yowl.
Where O where have my tax dollars gone?
I wanna retire but I’m barely hanging on.
Seems so strange to spend on climate change,
When me and my friends got no pocket change.
I wanna retire but I’m barely hanging on.
Will freedom be taxed until it's all gone?
Got a raise last week and was feeling good,
Until a gang burnt up my neighborhood.
Fentanyl is killing and our borders long gone.
I wanna retire but I’m barely hanging on.
Got a raise last week and was feeling good,
Until a peaceful gang burned my neighborhood.
I wanna retire but I’m barely hanging on.
Barely…, barely…, barely,
…Hanging…
on
a way to call a greater sky
into a drinking bowl
a way to call
while staying
inside
the odor of this
world eat world reality
your creature self
will sniff out
the scent
of an ungroomed holiness
turn the prayer on its back
expose belly
wriggle
where your tail
spins like a prayer wheel
lost bones will return
still rich with marrow
offer licks and loll
lollygag for a while
then
when you see
your original face
shining
behind the moon
yowl with gratitude
Written: September 22, 2023
Pleiades 6 Poetry Contest Sponsored by: Joseph May
_____________________________________________________________
Yaupon, mighty stands veiled
Yarn-like branches waving
Yaud of caffeine green source
Yowl, drink that holds wisdom
Yelps of knowledge unwind,
Yoke armor to illness
Your pearl steeped in legends
I like the way he takes that car
and makes it howl with such a yowl.
Some guys like to drive from A to B.
They keep it simple.
Others never notice how many see,
gaze at their wheels, their roofs, their doors.
But this one experiences the strangest of sensations.
What is he feeling as he takes that car,
making it yowl with such a howl?
His very gut reacts with strange and wacky whizz.
He goes from A to Z and back.
What an experience!
He gives such a strange ululation!
What, oh what, a sensation!
(16 Sep 2023)
I walked up his creaking steps
To the world’s most cluttered front porch
Kicking aside a chair, I knock
I hear some scrambling from inside
The door whips open. My friend smiles.
“Welcome to my humble abode,
You really made it just in time.”
I walk in and take off my shoes
He points to the cat, crouched, quiet
“You really made it just in time.”
Like a crossbow bolt, the cat darts
But the moth flies up and away
The cat let out a sad yowl
Looking defeated, slinks away.
“I really made it just in time.”
*** Scat, Cat! ***
No! Cat, don’t paw
That yarn ball
I use to crochet. Go!
Scat, cat! You won’t like so
much my scolding you more at all.
Stop! Scat! Don’t sit
on the stove
To warm your legs or I’ll
Find hairs in the eggs and scream in a fit.
‘Scat! Cat, just don’t think of it!’
Here, cat, swat at this yellow feather
I’m swaying below to tickle your nose.
No! Stay down! You’ll scratch
the soft sofa’s leather!
It’s not my hand’s waving that you’re
meant to be after!
Scat! I’m trying to sleep
And you will NOT squeeze me
Off MY pillow! Scat! Find your own!
Leave me here in dreamland alone!
Just scat! What’s that, cat?
You want to hear a story before going?
Okay, then, here’s an old-told cat tale
Shared outside along on the fences of your roaming:
“Meeeee-owl, meeee-ewe meeee-Yowl! echoing
Out over all the lawns in a feral greeting, Hi and hail!”
Thus, cat, so it goes and enough is told, enough…
Scat!
——————————————————————————————————————————————-
(c) sally young eslinger 12/10/2022
Thanks be to God…
***a poem to illustrate one of my
“Living with Cats” drawings.
The reading witch is unaware
She is being given a mean cat stare
Her book is open; the words are keen.
She is excited to devour this on Halloween.
The pages are turned by an unseen hand.
Amazing when the book is airily fanned.
Fierce pirates and princesses in a battle and more.
She is fully engrossed in chapter four.
A war is waged, thorns in knight’s spurs.
His armor and shied designed by Murres.
The cats prance and meow and hit and yowl.
Waking reading witch from her book with a unified growl.
gregarious wolf
monogamous mating pair ~
voracious young yowl
winter feast scarce
rapacious wolf snuffles snow ~
nimble hare cowers
alpha female reigns
wolf pack provides provisions ~
playful pups gambol
I went out one night;
folks say they don’t bite,
but grabbing the banister,
I slapped my hand upon one.
No, the experience was not fun
for the mantis nor me,
this painful whelp I cannot relieve!
My pet Gekko Little Elk,
in his tank on the shelf,
got his own terrible fright one night.
with a mantis he tangled,
and ended up mangled;
and his tail didn’t grow back right.
My cat jack chasing a mouse;
I’d prefer he’d chase grouse,
stuck his nose in hole in the ground.
Imagine my scowl,
when he let out a yowl,
mantis claws converted nose to ground-round.
heavy is the night
balmy breezy eve
moon insanely bright
powerful place to grieve
ghosts paraded in his mind
urging him to leave
I think it was vastly kind
This was the night demons prowl
Soul dreams of his did bind
heard large cat give off a yowl
was this then to be his end?
now I heard a white wolf’s growl
hoot of owl against the wind
let him know he was his friend
i shout hello to
squirrels playing in the sun
they all squawk at me
i fall on nettles and yowl
my cat looks on with a smirk
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