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Open Poetry #24
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Ratleader
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0 posted 2003-01-31 03:28 PM


I wonder, am I the only guy who ever wrote an elegy for his cat?


Shadow

It isn't that she's gone,
but that she's
                     the shape of her is
not present but still presence,
there but not by being
                     the empty space where
just a thought, a pattern,
small unpresence that is
                     just to see her
not there where she
would be now, when
                     soft black fur
I can almost feel her,
one time more the warmth,
                     there by the door
nearly hear the blinds
move as she passes
                     let her in
but she is gone.



© Copyright 2003 Ed Ratledge - All Rights Reserved
Sunshine
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1 posted 2003-01-31 03:35 PM


Oh, Ed...you've not been 'round long enough to get to know LongJhnAg, our resident kitty-kicker...your timing is excellent in posting your elegy to your beloved pet...as he is not here to make fun of the fact that she is now gone, he can be delightfully wicked that way...

and yes, I have done the same, and will perhaps bring one of them back for your perusal soon...

Now, if we can just keep LongJhn from coming in and kicking this around,...


[This message has been edited by Sunshine (01-31-2003 03:36 PM).]

Martie
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2 posted 2003-01-31 03:47 PM


Ed...I have loved many cats...and have mourned them also.  Perhaps the cat spirit still comes to you because it is still in your heart.  I understand this.
Ratleader
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3 posted 2003-01-31 03:55 PM


That's exactly it. You get so used to the patterns and habits that your eye almost puts 'em into the picture where they would be. Not a ghost, but it might as well be.

I'll not have another one, though.

~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>   ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>  ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº>    ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº>
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Ratleader
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4 posted 2003-01-31 04:18 PM


I was trying to show two almost-conflicting trains of thought here, by splitting the text. Does that work?

~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>   ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>  ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº>    ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº>
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Martie
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5 posted 2003-01-31 04:47 PM


Ed...I just went back to read...each reads well a a seperate poem.  Cool!
Wind
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6 posted 2003-01-31 04:55 PM


Well I can understand you wanting to write something like this. I enjoyed it.

I am living proof that ghosts exist. Which is an oximoron but I don't care ;)

Severn
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7 posted 2003-01-31 04:57 PM


Awwwwwwww I love my kitty...I have loved many many cats, and they become friends - not just little furry animals that whine for food. They are profound little creatures...with life lessons in them I think. The other night my flatmate and I found a cat on the road that had just been killed. It was quite late at night so we went to the few homes that had lights still on. Couldn't find the owner...then a bit later, I heard a sudden wailing and my heart just contracted...I can still hear it you know - grief as powerful as that for any other loss, including human life.

Split poems - works well...just like a shadow...nice visual effect of the content...

hugs

K

nakdthoughts
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8 posted 2003-01-31 04:58 PM


It worked, that is how I read it, as that is how I have been writing today although I did mine in italics to show the two different trains of thought.

I  love my cat, I don't think I will get another if and when it is her time to go.
M

Cpat Hair
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9 posted 2003-01-31 05:01 PM


yes it works well..and no you are not the only one to write such...

skillful construction the dual poems shadowing each as our thoughts often do.
enjoy the talent..and send sympahty for the loss.. recent or past...

The owl is back…
Closer now,
It seems to sit in the barn
Just a few yards from the house.

It's mournful hoots
Lie upon the stillness
Like the thin crescent moon
That rests now on the horizon.

It's been two days…
And I am reminded of the stories
Told by an old man I knew
Of the owl being the spirit of
Those who have left us.

Two days…
Since I built the little box
And we dug in earth, that
Seemed as reluctant to yield
To our efforts, as we were to
Let her go.

We placed her inside
And fastened the lid tightly,
Put her in the space between
Two trees and with tears..
Covered her.

The owl is back…
And it seems closer this morning.
It's hoots lying on the stillness
Like the crescent moon
Lies on the horizon
And like you are
In my thoughts.



Ratleader
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10 posted 2003-01-31 05:46 PM


I think we think alike, nakedthoughts.

To me one cat is a beloved friend, but more than one might be a habit. I'm what we hicks call a "one-man dawg..."

Besides, Shadow was utterly unique. For instance she had been abandoned twice in two years before she joined our family. And by families whose male heads wore blue. So among other things she had all the particulars that would inset in a cat's personality. If I wore blue she would cling, sometimes with claws.... and woe to us if we started packing anything into boxes! Pathetic!

~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>   ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>  ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº>    ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº>
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Midnitesun
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11 posted 2003-01-31 07:30 PM


AND THE CAT CAME BACK, THE VERY NEXT DAY
WE THOUGHT HE WAS A GONNER....

nice eulogy

[This message has been edited by Midnitesun (01-31-2003 07:31 PM).]

Ratleader
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12 posted 2003-01-31 07:38 PM


LOL -- that's a better way to think of 'em! The irony is that I didn't want to take her in, but the rest of the family did, so I went along..... and ended up missing her more than any of 'em.

Oh, and Sunshine -- I've worn Long Johns, they don't bother me. If they did, I'd tie knots in 'em, in places you can only mention over in "Mature Content"...........

~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>   ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>  ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº>    ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº>
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RokoRoo
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since 2003-02-16
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13 posted 2003-02-16 02:50 AM


Brought me to tears.  Cats are indeed very special souls.

~Jan

Ratleader
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14 posted 2003-02-16 11:17 PM


Well, just between you and me, that's my test for a poem of this kind.

If it brings ME to tears while I'm writing it, I figure it's probably ok....

~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>   ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>  ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº>    ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº>
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Waterbirdfly
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15 posted 2003-02-16 11:43 PM


very good!great!
wranx
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16 posted 2003-02-18 11:41 AM


Good write Ratleader. And, in answer to your question...b_squirrel has posted one to his (roommates') cat. I believe there has also been this sort of goodbye posted for a rat (no offense).

Ed

Ratleader
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17 posted 2003-02-18 04:49 PM


Ya make me laugh, wranx!

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suthern
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18 posted 2003-04-14 10:00 AM


Many years ago, I clipped a poem from CATS magazine... about the spaces that were no longer filled. Until I read this, I didn't think the ghosts that haunt and refresh our grief could be explained better...

This is going into my library... but it's also going to be printed out... it belongs with Elizabeth's picture. *S*

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