Sleeping With Four Cats

feline to flesh you slumber
content to be connected to
the unquestionable camaraderie
that comes from a furry menagerie

the tickle-press of half-hid claws
knead rhythmic on your world-weary
shoulders
their purr-heavy warmth
a
gentle language that penetrates
like my midnight caresses
unconditionally tender

and
sometimes i wonder what they confess to your inner ears
while i curl into stolen sheets
and let your stereo submerge me
in simple melodies

twilight twinkles as another
birthday-candle sun tucks
this drunken day aside
and confides it's healing song
to our closest companions

fur to face i watch your
nocturnal nuzzling
fascinated at the silent beauty
of absolute trust.

Reviews

[Diane]

Having only one cat, I was but a quarter of the way toward understanding this very lovely poem. Nevertheless, there are many wonderful images that are so vivid, irrespective the number of cats, for example, 'the tickle-press of half-hid claws'; 'and let your stereo submerge me' and even 'while i curl into stolen sheets'; this last image being so apt in the context of the poem.

I loved your image of a 'birthday-candle sun' tucking the 'drunken day aside'. Great observation, not only of cats! Moreover, the poem flows very well � no harsh combinations of words or rhythms. The only thing I wondered over was the use of the lower case 'i'; it, perhaps, was the only thing that interrupted the easy flow of the poem.

Thank you for posting this poem; I really enjoyed it. Diane

[Gandré]

gentle language that penetrates
like my midnight caresses
unconditionally tender----this was wonderful.
I loved your cat poem, their waves of faith enwrap our need to touch, with four paws they grab. so sweet

[Emily B]

Ahhhh, this is lovely, soft and sedate. Wonderful write.

[Raef C. Boylan]

I enjoyed the hyphenated phrases you've used in the first few stanzas; it's always impressive to me when people can communicate, through what is technically an invented piece of language, atmopshere/feelings/sound etc.
"tickle-press"
"purr-heavy"
In context of the beautiful sentences you've created, they have vivid meaning.

Your line breaks in the second stanza have got me a bit confused: are the two single-word lines part of a deliberate technique, and if so, what's the significance; what are we supposed to have realised from this?
That "a" in particular bugs me a little. I guess it would maybe be to slow down the pace...but since the whole thing reads as sleepy, i don't get why you've used in it in this stanza alone, if that's what it's for.

"as another
birthday-candle sun tucks
this drunken day aside" - one of the many brilliantly lovely sections.

"while i curl into stolen sheets
and let your stereo submerge me
in simple melodies" - and another.

I think letting animals into beds is pretty fecking gross, because i have a semi-phobia of hair/fur...yet, you've made me forget this, by conveying the warmth and comfort of this scene so skilfully.

"the silent beauty
of absolute trust." - i've re-read your piece quite a few times now, yet only just picked up what this ending is saying. Cats have claws, and the people of this poem sleep face top face with them...people are big and clumsy, yet the cats share their bed...it's a big deal, and part of the wonder of having pets, i guess - the idea of mutual trust and love.

A really pleasant and endearing read.
Thanks for posting this.

p.s.
I agree with Jessica Hartig: "and confides it's healing song" ("it's" = its)

[Crimson Shadow]

This poem had a soft intimate feel to it, like cuddling up with someone and watching the cat knead their back or hold its face so close they appear to be breathing their breaths. I love "birthday-candle sun tucks this drunken day aside". The stolen sheets tell us perhaps the person you watch is a lover and there is something so very romantic about a man who likes to watch his lover sleep.

[Todd]

This has to have been written from experience. It is so crystal clear and perfect that I would be absolutely dumbfounded if it was not. Your line breaks are so well down and the camaraderie/menagerie line made the poem for me right there. I was hooked. Actually, I was hooked even before that, at 'feline to flesh' and 'content to be connected.' If there's anything thing I love in poetry, it is alliteration, assonance, and consonance, and they're everywhere here. The mood of this poem is beautiful, as well. That 'absolute trust' you mention in the last line is felt so, so well. I am in love with this. Submit to magazines and journals. This is amazing, I could go on and on about it. A new favorite of mine.

[Jonathan Standifird]

Very sweet and intimate. Makes me think of.. oddly I'm at a loss to describe the rather vivid emotional and visual image. I can't decide if this is memory or composite. hmm..

Jonathan

[Jessica Standifird]

Awww. This is intimate and so, so, sweet. I like your description as a snapshot, it truly is. You bring poetry to the least unlikely places, and I love you for it!

"and
sometimes i wonder what they confess to your inner ears
while i curl into stolen sheets
and let your stereo submerge me
in simple melodies"

That's my favorite stanza. I got lost in the feel and image of these lines.

"and confides it's healing song
to our closest companions"

The it's/its monster got you in that line, it's should be its.

[Inmate 72866]

I don't know man. That's a lot of p***y. Good poem.