Memories of Snow

Cats I Have Known (19 short poems)

1
Vashtie's Eyes

I

It's her eyes that tell the story,
The calm acceptance of love;
Her joy at my presence rumbles in her throat,
But it's her eyes that reveal her true feelings,
As she lays, with them closed, in my lap
Or watches me from a shelf.

II

Oval emeralds glow
in pools of green fire
for the beloved.

2
Lion in Autumn

On crisp fall mornings
Lion's stripes turn deep pumpkin;
his orange streaks stand out
against his gild undercoat,
like a lit Jack-o'-lantern
on Halloween night.

3
Vashtie in Winter

A cut cat
lays on my Mother's hat,
usually she's laying on her lap.

4
Queen Vashtie

She stood in the entrance entranced
Her green eyes shining in the dark
Two giant emeralds in lime green pools

5
Vashtie's Jungle

Huntress
prowling a scarlet jungle
she stalks gray dust bunnies to their lair.

Tigress
slinking through thick shag carpet
she terrorizes red yarn serpents.

Dark lioness
she curls silently
beside a white space heater.

6
Wake Up Call

Razor sharp teeth close upon my hand,
needle sharp claws penetrate my flesh,
Bringing me to consciousness.
I am awake! The cat is purring!

7
Shadow Cat

Night's invisible essence,
she prowls the dark hallway,
her rust streaked charcoal gray,
blending withe the shadows of morning.

8
Pumpkin's Kittens

Orange and brown patches
Decorate her white fur coat
Energy's essence

Hopping across the floor
His black fur has orange spots
On his toes and head

Orange like its mother
The largest of the litter
Was the first to climb

The litter's smallest
She has dark fur a white toe
Orange spots on her head

9
Lap Junky

When the wind blows from the north,
and the house is cold as Nephelheim.

She lays,
curled in a tight ball,
upon my lap.

Her motor put on low,
Her purr almost inaudible
she is content with me as I am.

10
Vashtie's Toys

She sets
statue still
on the edge of a pink bathtub.
and watches
as bubbles rise.

The tip of her tail sways,
as she extends one delicate black paw
to retrieve
the rainbow bubbles
that disappear
from her unsheathed claws.

11
DC

I

Large black and white male
Long haired mixed breed goateed
American cat

II

A purr that would wake
The living rumbles through the house
Lights the morning sky

12
Siblings in Fur

My chair is kept warm,
by my black and whit brother
in fur.

In the bathtub
my guard is
my black and silver sister
in fur.

13
Vashtie

Huntress,
prowling a red carpet jungle,
she stalks a gray dust bunny to its lair.

14
Midnight

Like stars
in the midnight sky
half-a-dozen white hairs
mark the location
of vocal chords that vibrate
with contentment.

Waves of contentment emanate
from silk soft ebony
that is the essence
of midnight.

15
Jack Daniels

Jack Daniels sets
On the outside looking in

With claws unsheathed
He scratches on the window pain

Demanding
Vashtie say "Hello" to him

16
Escape

A streak of black lightning
Brushed past my bare leg

Tall hairs
Standing on end
She flashed down the stairs
In pursuit of an equally fast
Streak of yellow lightning

17
Cute Cat

Vashtie
lays curled in my mother's knit hat
usually she lays in my mother's lap.

18
Prince

Silken smooth fur rubs
against my cheek, purrs echo--
Prince of joy arrives.

19
Underfoot

When I walk
through a room
the cats are underfoot.

The cats
are underfoot
all the time.

They can't
stay out from
underfoot.

I would
miss them
if they weren't underfoot.

Poet's Note: ▼

These poems were written over several years.