Poem by Abby Van Kirk

I could ask you to stay with me on this

choking, smoking, moonless night,

but your presence is the cause of this problematic smolder.

And, anyway, I have my cat.

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Abby Van Kirk is a student at Pike's Peak Community College. Her cats, Sasha and Masha, and her horse Molly, keep her creative.

The Cat and the Moon

William Butler Yeats

The cat went here and there
And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon
The creeping cat looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For wander and wail as he would
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass,
Lifting his delicate feet.
Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?
When two close kindred meet
What better than call a dance?
Maybe the moon may learn,
Tired of that courtly fashion,
A new dance turn.
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
From moonlit place to place,
The sacred moon overhead
Has taken a new phase.
Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils
Will pass from change to change,
And that from round to crescent,
From crescent to round they range?
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
Alone, important and wise,
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes.

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This poem is in the public domain.

Haiku with Cat on Roof

In spite of the rain

the cat’s on the roof again
walking the gutters.

©2015 Kim Tedrow

Haiku with Cat and Squirrel

From the gray wood fence

the squirrel calls out the cat.
Tails twitch at sundown.

©2015 Kim Tedrow

Haiku with Cat Singing

When the cat inside
sings at the tomcat outside,
even the moon hides.

©2015 Kim Tedrow

The Sleep-Cat

When your nightclothes come apart at the seams

and the moon and its shadows are indiscreet

I am keeper of your dreams.

When sunset departs and spirit gleams

I’ll scrabble with ghosts, I’ll play and cheat

When your nightclothes come apart at the seams.

In the Dream Café with its Jungian themes

I’ll serve you starlight hot and sweet

I am the steward of your dreams.

You leave your body to swim the streams

in the rivers where departed ones meet

When your nightclothes come apart at the seams.

The night creeps in on its little black feet

but wakes you up when it wants to eat

I am the guardian of your dreams.

When the lights go out on your everyday street

And you wander into love’s slipstream

When your nightclothes come apart at the seams
I am the keeper of your dreams.

Copyright 2013 Kim Tedrow