ARE YOU A POET AND DON'T KNOW IT? by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

April was National Poetry Month, and a writing group that I belong to decided to do something different to celebrate their annual poetry slam, Verse of Ages. The Oregon Writers Colony came up with the idea several years ago to invite poets of all ages to read their work. The first events showcased people from age ten to ninety. From there, it morphed into something more generational, from Greatest to boomers to X and wherever we are now. That was fun as well, especially the kids who got up and recited some of their original poems.

But then came Covid. Last year’s Verse of Ages didn’t happen at all, but by the time 2021 rolled around, everybody knew how to Zoom and there was no way we were going to give up our affair two years running.

Since everything had changed, the coordinator thought it might be fun to change up the format as well, so at the beginning of April, she sent out a prompt word for every day of the month. There were no rules: do or do not; do some or all; write separate poems, or like one person did, incorporate all thirty words into a single poem. At the beginning of May, we all got virtually together to share our results.

Some of us are actual poets, where others had never touched the genre. I write the occasional poem and have even published a little book of cat poems, but I don’t consider myself a poet by any means. Still this prompt-a-day idea caught my imagination. I missed some days and skipped or made up for them later, but I got a lot out of it. Now I’ll share a few with you.

 

 April 2 PATHWAY

 

Pathways

 

We walk the edge of the abyss,

fragile as moth wings

but with a phoenix heart.

 

  April 6 JOURNEY

 

Don’t they say

life is all about the journey,

not the destination?

 

Still, sometimes I wish

I could get off this bumpy stagecoach

and rest by a tree,

by a lake,

under the long sky,

to finally call it home.

Photo by Yi Liu on Unsplash

 

April 10 ANSWER

 

If love is the answer,

then what is the question?

 

What comes after loss?

How do I deal?

Why are we here?

What makes us human?

What keeps us sane?

Why do I have so many cats?

 

April 12 GRACE

 

My Aunt Grace

was old and scary,

with penciled eyebrows

too high upon her forehead

and a red mouth

full of frowns.

 

I recall her at her vanity

like a nineteenth-century

memento mori,

black lace shrouding scrawny shoulders.

A tiny dragon,

she hovers over her hoards of

costume jewelry.

Rubies and emeralds,

sapphires and diamonds—

but not even their sparkle

can bring life

to that pale face.

 

 April 15 DANCING

 

At night,

when we’re in bed,

the cats go dancing.

Cheek to cheek,

they twirl across the floor.

to the tunes of the mouse band.

Missy in her ball gown and

Tom in his tux,

around and around they cavort

until the crack of dawn.

 

No wonder

when we come down

the next morning,

the cats are fast asleep.

 

 

Photo by Mary J. Friedrich on Unsplash

April 27 SATCHEL

 

Somebody was running out of prompts

when they chose the word satchel.

No one uses that word anymore.

It’s briefcase or suitcase, bag, purse, or tote,

It’s knapsack, backpack, or pouch.

But satchel, old satchel,

has gone the way of the saddlebag,

to lie lost at the back of the closet

with the dial telephone and

the reel-to-reel tapes.

 

 

About Mollie Hunt: Native Oregonian Mollie Hunt has always had an affinity for cats, so it was a short step for her to become a cat writer. Mollie Hunt writes the award-winning Crazy Cat Lady cozy mystery series featuring Lynley Cannon, a sixty-something cat shelter volunteer who finds more trouble than a cat in catnip, and the Cat Seasons sci-fantasy tetralogy where cats save the world. She also pens a bit of cat poetry. 

Mollie is a member of the Oregon Writers’ Colony, Sisters in Crime, the Cat Writers’ Association, and Northwest Independent Writers Association (NIWA). She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and a varying number of cats. Like Lynley, she is a grateful shelter volunteer.

You can find Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer on her blogsite: www.lecatts.wordpress.com

Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/MollieHuntCatWriter/

@MollieHuntCats

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT THE *BLEEP* IS A CAT WRITER? by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

Today is the final day of the 25^th Annual Cat Writers’ Association Conference, and I’m sad for it to end. The time went by fast, with presentations, networking, and good meals among old and new friends. People won awards, made connections, and learned things about cats and cat writing. I enjoyed it all, from the fiction panel in which I participated to the book sales and signing event. If you are a cat writer, artist, blogger, photographer, or pursue any creative aspect of the cat, you, too, might consider joining the Cat Writers’ Association. It has been very helpful for me. (And fun, too!)

But what exactly is a cat writer, you ask.

When you Google Cat Writer, you really don’t get a whole lot of joy. Most of the links go to various paws of the CWA. But there you have it: If there is a Cat Writers’ Association, then it logically follows that there are cat writers. That these fur-tive storytellers are difficult to define makes perfect sense when you consider the mysterious and unique nature of the animal they emulate.

It’s really very simple: cat writers write cat-centric books and stories. They write both fiction  and non-fiction, anything that features felines in a majority of the content. (A cat on the book cover or sitting on Grandma’s lap in chapter seven does not a cat book make.) Cat non-fiction includes but is not limited to cat memoir, cat help, cat poetry, and cat behavior. Cat fiction can be just about anything: cat mysteries, cat cozies, and cat sci-fi are only a few of the more popular sub-sub genres.

Why write cat? What is it about the feline species that propels it to such literary popularity? When did writers first begin to introduce cats as a vital part of their stories? Why do readers lap them up like a saucer of cream?*

Do you have a favorite cat book or cat writer? If so, let me know, and I will do my best to reply. (Be aware that I’m still having problems with that. For some reason, no matter how many times I log in to Blogger, it doesn’t recognize me and my comments just disappear! I’ve tried everything short of a new computer, which isn’t going to happen. Sometimes it works perfectly though, just to drive me crazy.)

*(PS: milk products, including cream, are not good for adult cats and will likely cause diarrhea)

Check out more blogs by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer at:

Mollie Hunt: Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and more

Happy reading!

MERRY CAT-MAS, by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

In our house,

the cats own Christmas.

They own the tree,

which is decorated to their delight,

with the big unbreakable bulbs

down low

for their enjoyment.

They own the hearth

and the soft rug in front,

warm and cozy.

They own the kitchen,

which though busy with baking,

also gives treats and tastes,

just for them.

They own the presents,

wrapped in tissue,

which they pull and tear,

to open by themselves.

They own the gift boxes

to sit in;

the wrapping paper

to kneed into a crinkly bed;

the ribbons to chase and toss,

better than all the expensive toys

from the pet shop.

In our home,

the cats own Christmas,

and we wouldn’t have it

any other way.

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Check out more blogs by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer at:

Mollie Hunt: Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and more

Happy reading!

CAT POETRY, by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer

Haiku by Cat, "Bit"

Last month  I told you about two new ways I’m expressing the writer part of me: Flash Fiction and Cat Poetry. In my previous blog, I discussed Flash Fiction; now let’s consider the second subject, Cat Poetry.

Like flash fiction, a successful poem needs to convey a story (or a feeling or a mood or an image) to the reader. The two forms of writing can be very similar, yet to me, the difference is huge. Poetry is easier than flash fiction. Where sitting down to pen flash fiction feels something akin to doing homework when it’s sunny out, composing poetry is as natural as breathing.

I began writing poems many years ago, long before I’d written or even imagined writing a book. Poetry was something that came to me, artwork in words. Once I’d begun listening to the poem muse, the writing of poems morphed into a sporadic yet integral part of my life.

From poetry to cat poetry was only a simple step, yet it was one I had never considered until I began to read the work of other cat poets. ( Marc-Andre of the Katzenworld blogsite has a weekly post dedicated to cat poetry. You can read my poem, Night Muse, here) The love of cats is so strong in me that the pictures flowed easily once I began to look.

Cat Poetry appears in all sorts of guises. There are haikus and limericks; sincere poems and funny ones; lamentations and harsh realities; scenes from the cat’s point of view and scenes of cats per the poet.

Cat poetry is nothing new. Many of the greats chose cats as their theme. William Butler Yeats wrote The Cat And The Moon;  Emily Dickinson wrote a sweet verse, She sights a Bird – she chuckles; T. S. Eliot is famous for his collection of whimsical poems, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939) that was adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the musical, Cats; Margaret Atwood, the author of the current hit series, The Handmaiden’s Tale, wrote the poem, February, which may be about a cat and may be about sexual repression or overpopulation or the life principle (it’s Atwood, after all).

Here is the favorite of my cat poems so far:

Stray cat in Strasbourg

THE CAT WHO PASSES

The cat who passes by

Outside the window

Through the yard,

The long grass

That I do not cut,

The wild weeds that I do not pull.

He weaves like a tabby tiger,

Slinks shadowlike with the ease of air,

So beautiful in his ferality.

He claims his territory

With his scent and his spray,

And levels his yellow glare

At me through the window.

Defiant, daring.

The slightest twitch and he will be gone.

He is a wild one, this cat who passes by.

Have you read or written cat poetry?

Check out more by Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer at:

MollieHunt: Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and more

Happy reading!