"tailless" poems
he came to the door one night wet thin beaten and
terrorized
a white cross-eyed tailless cat
I took him in and fed him and he stayed
grew to trust me until a friend drove up the driveway
and ran him over
I took what was left to a vet who said,"not much
chance...give him these pills...his backbone
is crushed, but it was crushed before and somehow
mended, if he lives he'll never walk, look at
these x-rays, he's been shot, look here, the pellets
are still there...also, he once had a tail, somebody
cut it off..."
I took the cat back, it was a hot summer, one of the
hottest in decades, I put him on the bathroom
floor, gave him water and pills, he wouldn't eat, he
wouldn't touch the water, I dipped my finger into it
and wet his mouth and I talked to him, I didn't go any-
where, I put in a lot of bathroom time and talked to
him and gently touched him and he looked back at
me with those pale blue crossed eyes and as the days went
by he made his first move
dragging himself forward by his front legs
(the rear ones wouldn't work)
he made it to the litter box
crawled over and in,
it was like the trumpet of possible victory
blowing in that bathroom and into the city, I
related to that cat-I'd had it bad, not that
bad but bad enough
one morning he got up, stood up, fell back down and
just looked at me.
"you can make it," I said to him.
he kept trying, getting up falling down, finally
he walked a few steps, he was like a drunk, the
rear legs just didn't want to do it and he fell again, rested,
then got up.
you know the rest: now he's better than ever, cross-eyed
almost toothless, but the grace is back, and that look in
his eyes never left...
and now sometimes I'm interviewed, they want to hear about
life and literature and I get drunk and hold up my cross-eyed,
shot, runover de-tailed cat and I say,"look, look
at this!"
but they don't understand, they say something like,"you
say you've been influenced by Celine?"
"no," I hold the cat up,"by what happens, by
things like this, by this, by this!"
I shake the cat, hold him up in
the smoky and drunken light, he's relaxed he knows...
it's then that the interviews end
although I am proud sometimes when I see the pictures
later and there I am and there is the cat and we are photo-
graphed together.
he too knows it's ******** but that somehow it all helps.
20.4k
It didn't start off with a white cake
carrying forty-something candles
Rather, it was the chimes of the phone alarm
later, a cold run through the foggy streets
then back home to nurse the joint pains
The phone buzzed with messages
first from the wife, then my best friend,
then my brother, to whom I got to respond
"and the same to you too"
then my ghost friend, who only sends a message
on this day, each year
before vanishing out of my life
I'm home today, having a party of sorts
with the twin monitors
and the tailless mouse
At least they look dressed up for the occasion
sitting on the workstation
in their black soft-plastic jackets
They don't dance or sing or even mumble anything
They only look down at my fingers
going back and forth
around the letters of the alphabet
as I go to work while sitting at home
At this age, I muse to myself
some people don't want to remember
how they have moved closer
in the journey towards
forgetting one's name, family
and eventually how to eat
And almost imperceptibly
we have become the dad, or mum
or auntie that we looked up to
or held under the magnifying glass
and judged for their decisions on our lives
But now I'm only trying
to live in the moment
as I pour a bit of whiskey
swirl it around gently in the glass,
watching if it shows
within its brown circular current
the regrets of the past
or the shrouded future
and hopefully, the number of my age
May 15, 2022
May 15, 2022 at 9:22 AM UTC
I thought that I would be happy to find
What I thought to be the end of my search
Distraught, a sad, and lost, tailless feline
Whose whiskers when in dark will make me lurch
Instead of clear and happy carefree days
The tempest that I feel inside my being
I question if this is the right of way
Results I heed are sitting unforseen
To tumble back to where I once began
Traveling to a wider range of sea
I’ll cast my line with bait of truth and love
And see what type of rarity will be
Maybe this catch will be willing to stay
And i’ll vow not to fish another day.
Jan 7, 2016
Jan 7, 2016 at 11:43 AM UTC
nonchalantly, and with a nimble stride, the lizard crossed my path
at great speed, it's tailless torso, made it to the cover of desert cactus
the momentum of this little creature was stunning
the desert floor is packed with amazement of all kinds
Brian Hill - 2020 # 167
Jun 19, 2020
Jun 19, 2020 at 9:38 AM UTC
I saw a squirrel without a tail,
running on some powerlines.
He didn’t seem to really care,
that his **** was missing a puff of hair.
Cause he ran as fast
and jumped as high
as any other squirrel.
So it made me wonder,
why the heck
do squirrels have tails at all.
I thought it through
and realized
It doesn't matter if theres one or not.
A squirrels a squirrel
dangit
Feb 4, 2015
Feb 4, 2015 at 2:38 PM UTC
She stared at the roof beam,
The wood that was once a tree.
A tailless lizard came from
Behind the beam to look
At her for the umpteenth time.
Kitta kitta , said the lizard
She who had become 'it' stared
Unremittingly at the beam
That was once a forest tree.
The beam looked at the lizard.
The continuum flowed endl’ssly .
Sep 27, 2010
Sep 27, 2010 at 8:58 AM UTC
.
Set aside time for celestial night-
A million years to name every star,
Time in your eyes make them seem very far-
Preparing your soul for astral flight.
Tantalize your skies with your tailless kite;
While Orion is preparing for war-
And nobody knows just what war is for.
Discovery has been my life's delight!
To gaze into sky that's as black as tar-
Pinpoints -of- light... everywhere that I turn;
And the cage of my chest feels very tight.
You turn the key and you have the power-
Everyone wants to see Jupiter burn.
Ah! It's going to be one hell of a night!
.
Jan 27, 2010
Jan 27, 2010 at 1:00 AM UTC
/// \\\
• |||
||| <>
\__________
/\ /\
this is my rendition on BERYLDOV LEW' s
famous painting
TAIL-LESS HORSE WITH A YOUNG GIRL's FACE
••
••
The store sign said
CHEAP LIQUOR
He didn't know why but he joined the army
••
•
He dreamed he was writing haikus
In the mountains
The starving child in the alley
••
Americans are ********* !
After the flood
A dove was flying in the blue sky
••
A breast in one hand
A ***** in the other
Time to wash the dishes !
••
BERYLDOV LEW !
Strikes down the heathen !
A tailless horse with a young girl's face races by
Jun 5, 2014
Jun 5, 2014 at 5:08 PM UTC