A Kinder Death

Felines, lovely but cruel

At dusk in June

When moonlight silvers a sleepy sky

And the scent of orange blossom lingers

In fragrant sultry air

I am reminded

Of petals

White confetti falling

Spiralling in silence

Softly on a fresh grave

Marking the resting place

Of him

Who robbed the nests

Of fledglings in their half made vests

Depositing them lifeless

At my kitchen door

So now the dawn chorus comes

Sweeter with its morning song

And blackbirds breathe easier

In my summer garden

Reviews

[Nigel Newman]

Chris Hi. You were kind enough to comment on one of my poems, so I thought I'd hop over and read some of your work. Your wording here is sublime. The flow, and the sense of reflection.

I confess to a slight confusion which nags at my enjoyment of this. Whomever or whatever is in the grave, well at least they were cared for enough to be given a grave. And yet you portray the their robbing of nests in a sort of factual, less emotive, way. It reads as though it's a family cat, but one could probably see such an allusion as more metaphorical and that you have some deeper meaning. So it throws me a bit, but I love the flow of this, and as I say, your wording is divine.

BRs Nigel

[Chris Shaw]

It is the family cat my friend. You have to dig (excuse the pun)no deeper than that. While I was writing this (and it did happen quite sometime ago) I actually wanted to put a bit of distance there. I loved that damn cat,but cats do what they do naturally. But each time he did it, robbing those nests, it broke my heart a little, it was cruel. His ending, much kinder by comparison. Thank you so much for your very generous review.

Chris

[Jimmy Yetts]

A lovely--and entertaining--portrayal of natural feline behavior.
Simply put, Chris: 'tis the way of it.

[Chris Shaw]

It is Jimmy. Cats will be cats, and birds better keep out of their way. Thank you for your review.

[KeeD]

Aww rest his poor soul, this is a great tribute to a furry friend who fabulously ruled with a vicious paw.

[Chris Shaw]

He did indeed have a vicious paw. Not much got past him. Loved him to bits though. 16 years I had him.

Chris

[KeeD]

Having two Husky Doggies of my own, I can imagine the amount of love you must have given him and he you in return. I just hope wherever we ended up after we're kaput here has our furry best friends waiting for us.

[Chris Shaw]

Nice idea.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"blackbirds breathe easier"

i am sure they do...but wow, poor cats get such a bad rep for just doing what comes naturally.
i feel glad for the birds but sad for the feline.

i just asked my own cat what she thought of this poem....She flinched.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you for the suggestion Jacob, I have used your edit. Please give your cat an extra cuddle and a treat from me. Tell her I'm sorry I made her flinch.

Chris

[peter Duggan]

Hi Chris. this is a nice poem you have written. I kind of have a love hatred attitude towards Cats. They are beautiful but they destroy a lot the wildlife down here in Oz. I enjoyed your poem, my friend....Peter

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Peter. I feel the same. I adore cats but I am so squeamish when it comes to their carnage. I appreciate you comments.

Chris

[alanwgraham]

This is lovely Christine. You have really caught the ambience of the garden at dusk with your well chosen words - it feels very like ours. We too have this ambivalent feeling towards our furry friends and I have the added problem of having a vegetable garden/cat toilet. Justice was served one morning when a cat walked across our lawn and assumed our pond weed covered pond was a continuation of the lawn. I have never laughed so much!
Great work!
Regards, Alan

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Alan. Smiling with you. We loved that cat, but the grief when he deposited his presents at the back door. Talk about killer cat. Anything in the garden, and he got it! Would loved to have seen the pond weed situation. Yes justice indeed. Have a nice week-end and thank you for checking in.

Chris

[sette]

hi chris this is a poem where it took me by surprise thought it was referring to a death of a person but instead it was the blackbird so uniquely written nice work

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you sette. Birds and cats don't fare well together

Chris

[sette]

totally true

[Wild Rose]

Come and share our garden
Full of bird songs > Well not ALL the time
Morning when they greet a new day

Afternoons sitting in the sun we feed them crumbs
A Blackbird will sit high up and sing
Did try to post a vid on here but couldn't get the song to come through
Wish you could hear it

No cats we have grown a hedge all round (birds nesting in it this year - the cats are unable to penetrate or walk on the walls and jump down

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Wild Rose. The birds definitely sing sweeter and fare much better without our feline friends cramping their style. Your comments, appreciated. have a lovely day.

Chris