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THE CAT AND THE SWALLOW
Like chasing dreams, I would have said,
(At Passover
in the camps a pious man
or attempting to defy the forces of
gravity,
asked for unleavened bread
or trying to cheat death: but
the cat is intent
observant to the end.) on catching a swallow.
We live quietly now, rarely speak out,
He has
good cause; they have tried
let insults, real or imagined, slide
by,
to intimidate him, diving at his head
wait for whatever life
brings us next.
and strafing him with their sharp wings.
Gruesome, the swallow's prolonged death,
Perfection
is not to be found, in this world;
the bird small in the cat's wide
jaw;
to expect it goes against God's will
but killing prey is the
nature of a cat.
and only takes us further from ourselves. |
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COURTING THEM ALL
The herons are courting, out in the fields,
strutting
about, striking poses,
barking and gargling, clucking and cackling.
And there you are, white-haired and back bent,
cawing and
scraping at your fiddle
to favour a young lass who catches your eye.
After the dance she lies flat on her back,
out in the
fields, groaning and gasping
in the arms of a younger man.
The band goes home, but the music
never stops; someone,
somewhere,
is always out there, looking for love. |
The Cat and the Swallow was inspired, in part, by the
writings of Yeshayahu Leibowitz. The poem first appeared in Oasis No. 96,
(London).
Courting Them All is the name of an Irish reel, also
known as Rachel Rae in Scotland. This poem appeared in Cyphers No. 58,
(Dublin).
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