"Kitty Thoughts"

   

            Delving into a kitty brain takes a unique approach. As a child, our Thomas prowled the neighborhood. His reputation as a big game hunter formed with each bird or mouse he laid upon our doorstep. He wore camouflage of tiger stripes that hid him under bushes and within trees. He never showed his prowess with his claws with my sister or with me. He became a limp rag doll whenever we lugged him around the house and never once took a swipe at us when we shoved him into a toy carriage. Thomas broke our hearts when he strayed away from home. Eventually, a battle scarred ruffian turned up on our doorstep. A hunk of flesh missing from his ear, and his right eye tightly closed. Mom fed him, tried to coax him back into our home, but he roamed off again after a few days.

            Cookie and Junior, devilish litter mates, whirled into our household with Dad’s next assignment. These dervishes swung from curtain, knocked down the cookie jar, and terrorized anything that moved. They swiped at our legs whenever we passed by and sprang out from behind furniture with kamikaze recklessness. Their wild antics entertained us constantly, but their combined wild man capers left Mom ragged. My parents decided to take them to a neighboring farm. I remember letting them take off from my clinging embrace to frolic in the hay.

Brindle

            Beautiful, calm Brindle entered my heart and home during the first years of my marriage. She gracefully embraced every change within our home: a child, a dog. Her innate shyness meant people questioned whether or not we had a cat at all. When visitors arrived, she slipped from the room or watched from under the couch. When we first brought her home from the shelter, she would duck away from sudden movement or loud noises. We suspected her early life abounded with hardships. Our promise to her—an unending love.

One of the few pictures of camera shy Sassy!

Our Sassy cat often shunned my attention. She’d jump onto the couch, but the moment I stroked her back or rubbed her chin, she’d move away. She never behaved that way with my husband or son, which left me heartbroken. Sometimes she didn’t avoid me like the plague. I reveled in her gentle head butts and paw taps that directed my pets to her soft fur. Her Jekyll and Hyde interactions with me puzzled me for many years. Then one momentous day, she sneezed—and sneezed, and sneezed before she moved away from my outstretched hand. I dawned on me that she wasn’t avoiding me after all, but my perfume! The experiment to test my hypothesis proved simple. After I took baths, Sassy adored my attention. If I tried to interact with her with any perfume on, she’d duck and dodge my attention. What a relief to discover that my kitty didn’t dislike me!

Padme

We didn’t expect to come home with another cat, but Padme captured my son’s heart the moment he saw her playing at the pet store. She and her twin tangled together in abandon. Only bringing home one kitten of the pair was difficult, but we’d gone to the pet store for an iguana! Padme grew into a passionately opinionated cat with her long whipping tail expressing disapproval with an arrogant flick. Unlike shy Sassy, Padme demanded attention whenever anyone visited. She’d lounge on the kitchen desk to invite back rubs and chin scratches. Padme never presented a puzzle to anyone. She wanted affection and gave it back freely.  

Copyright 2019 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

     

"Guest Poet!"

 When my friend, Michelle Baksic-Hargett dangled a poetry challenge before me, I couldn't resist. I have a list of about thirty possible topics for future blog posts. Michelle randomly select six of the topics:  Trap, Mama Bear, Photography, Favoritism, Geeks-R-Us, Ironing. I've posted the poems I generated from these topics. For today, I'm welcoming Michelle Baksic-Hargett as my guest poet!      

“Geeks-R-Us”

Word games, puns, an oxymoron or Scrabble,   

Foreign phrases or lighthearted Pig Latin babble,   

Science Fiction, Satire, Non-Fiction Drama,   

They all appeal to the literary momma!   

Alice and Star Trek let us think higher,   

For a deeper look, they do require.   

To catch their meanings one must be 

Skilled in recognizing analogies.  

I love to write poetry in my free time;   

Contemplate thoughts and drop a rhyme,   

Or collaborate with colleagues colloquially.   

It really is not very difficult to see   

That I have quite a bit of geek in me.   

Copyrigth 2012 Michelle Baksic-Hargett     

“Trapped”  

Blind-sided from in front of my face   

Trust misplaced ended in disgrace   
Self-destruct or pick up the pace   
Become numb it is my saving grace   
Stay moving fast for when I cease   
I am given no chance for peace   
All time stood still    
As he moved in for the kill   
Late reaction told me to run   
This game was his idea of fun   
Bait and switch with Jekyll and Hyde   
Couldn’t breathe to react, no time to decide   
Between fight and flight—   
I’m only dead on the inside   

 Copyright 2012 Michelle Baksic-Hargett   

“Photography”   

    The smile of a child, a soft flower as it bends 

Are captured innocently from behind the lens   

Peaches and pink candy comprise the sunrise   

Colorfully consuming the expansive new sky   

Forever the keeper of dawn’s early light   

One snap! I’ve caught the beauty of the sight   

In front of the lens, things are honest and real   

Aborigines believe your soul this can steal   

Lighting and subject form the perfect embrace   

Leaving the dance without mark or disgrace   

Just simple and perfect by God’s pure design   

Photography captures the moment in time   

   

  

Copyright 2012 Michelle Baksic-Hargett   

"Mother Daughter Relationships" 

We didn’t ever see eye to eye   

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t try   

My very best to make you proud   

But I was always too messy or to loud   

Too opinionated, uncensored and full of fire   

You saw it as rebellious—I saw it as desire   

So I studied harder and made the grade   

Got through college, and made my way   

Followed your life playbook to the tee  

But it didn’t seem to matter, you didn’t see   

I had my BA and my MRS under my belt   

But the pressure was there, like a vise, I felt   

Because our relationship was still not strong   

So I gave you grandchildren—the perfect pair   

And that won me favor for a while there     

I moved 2000 miles to be closer to you   

And things improved, as they sometimes do   

But when I failed to cook and dress   

For my husband you were not impressed   

“Maintain the 50’s housewife image my dear  

Your husband needs perfection. Is that clear?”   

Once again I failed and that’s how it goes,   

Now my divorce is just another woe   

Oh, what a disappointment I must be!   

Single parent stigma—a statistic always in need  

You’re always running to save me with great speed   

Well, I’d like to say I’m sorry, no doubt, it’s true   

But I’m sorry to me and not really to you   

Because the person I disappointed most   

Is me   

Copyright 2012 Michelle Baksic-Hargett