cat on the sill

fearing the outside while the inside is the real enemy

cat on the sill

 

there is a yellow-pawed cat

sitting and licking

outside on the sill,

peering inside as

I try to break out;

doors barricaded by

my illness and draped

in crape

by my fears…

locked away by my instincts

and heckled by my past,

wishing I was a golden-tailed cat

looking in instead of wishing

myself out.

 

dan © 2015

Music: "Stray Cat Strut" performed by the Stray Cats

Author's Note

Reviews

[Nadia Gerassimenko]

That's the beauty of kitties - they live on instincts (well, for the most part anyways...just don't get a wild one and you'll be fine). They're wild and carefree. And Freedom is their Master. And our Master is our Mind. It can work with us, but usually it works against us. You said it well. I've felt this way before, myself.

[dan]

Nadia, This WAS actually written about a wild one. We have feral cats around where we live and a yellow tiger-striped can names Dandelion jumps up on our window sill when he's hungry. I've always been a cat lover and their independence has always fascinated me. And that independence transfers into metaphors about life in human skin also. Thanks so much for your review. take care...dan

[Jerome F Knox III pseud..]

Dan this was brilliant. I can relate to this because I have been in the hospital since Feb 26 so this really struck a chord with me. these open lines were brilliant

there is a yellow-pawed cat

sitting and licking

outside on the sill,

peering inside as

I try to break out;

doors barricaded by

my illness and draped

in crape

by my fears…

the color yellow represents caution and hope so to give the cat a color and you wishing you were a golden-tailed cat showed your brilliance and attention to detail. From there you simply showed skilled in wrapping everything up with a well thought out conclusion.

[dan]

Rico, Thank you for the wonderful read/review. I'm certainly hoping that you get well quickly, get off of the bench and back in the game. Your team NEEDS you! I always look forward to reading your work and that will not change due to illness, either yours OR mine. take care, my friend...dan

[Jerome F Knox III pseudonym Nefarious J. Dorsey]

hey Dan I managed to write a while I was ill....the Sticky Note series has 21 poems and there are some other new works as well as i tried to write in between being drugged up

[dan]

And I guess it's not the GOOD KIND of 'drugged up?' I don't know if you're into it but I would be asking for medical weed to smoke, but that's just me, an old weedhead. I need to go to your page and read some more of the Sticky Notes...I think I only read about 5 or 6 of them. I hope you're feeling better soon, at least good enough to get out of the hospital. My bipolar has sent me inpatient roughly 50 times in the last 30 years, sometimes as long as 3-4 months. Getting out and back home will be intensely liberating, if memory serves me correctly. Good luck, guy. take care...dan

[Shari Robinson]

Excellent piece, It very effectively evokes the loneliness that can be a part of life with chronic pain.

[dan]

Shari, I appreciate you visiting and staying for a minute. Thanks so much for your kind words. I will visit your homepage. take care...dan

[Riv]

I often think about what it would be like to be an animal when I'm in pain, it's nice to see someone thinks the same thing unless I read the interpreted the poem completely wrong. I'm an awkward person, love the poem, pen on.

[dan]

Each piece I write can be interpreted any way one sees fit; there are no rights or wrongs. Thank you for the review, I've bookmarked your page and will get to it so as to return the favor. take care...dan

[...]

Life without pain...would you really know happiness without it? My experience is things usually get taken for granted without opposites. Less insight? would you grow? And yes, bondage is mostly self-inflicted, in my opinion. Good thought "infllicted" write here, Dan

[dan]

"On the outside looking in" may be better than life on the inside. Inside can seem imprisoning and stifled. Cats got it made? The grass is sometimes, not always, greener...than what comes next? Who knows. Thank you for your insight and review. take care...dan

[Michelle Coleman]

Nice! My brother suffers from social anxiety and this poem makes me think of him.

At first I thought it was going to be one of those rhyming poems for kids. Until I got to "I try to break out." That was an effective transition. I like this one a lot.

Have you ever thought of workings with the youth through the use of poetry?

[dan]

I'm afraid that at my age the youth will not consider me relevant. I'd be WAAAYYY old to them. My 10 year old grandson can't believe that I even still listen to music. Unless we're tossing the football 'cause I can still throw the long bomb. At times I do work with youths, when the call the crisis hotline. Then they can't see how old I am. Thanks for your kind words. take care...dan

[Michelle Coleman]

You don't have to young to work with the youth. 😉 and you're welcome.

[dan]

I don't think I have the academic qualifications to work with youth, my degree is in Rehabilitation. I don't think that there are opportunities out there for me to just walk in and say, "I'd like to work with youth, exposing them to the thrill of writing." I just wouldn't know how to go about it. Besides, I already have two jobs (2 part time = to 1 full time). Nice thought though. take care...dan

[~]

I can see good symbolism and a pensive mode. You always add character to your poems. This one is calmly wishing for a bondage breaker, and the simplicity of a life without pain.

[dan]

ms, and you always add insight to your reviews, which I admire and appreciate very much. Thank you for reading and reviewing as always. take care...dan

[~]

yay it worked :):)

[Ricky Campbell]

Powerful use of imagery! The picture is painted straight into my head. I love this! It also makes you wonder what the cat is thinking as you struggle to get out. Also, what that could allude too. Again, a great piece

[dan]

Ricky, thank you for your insightful review. I'm happy that it made you think of the possibilities, the options one may eventually face, the discoveries and if they will justify the fears. Thanks again! take care...dan

[Ana D S M]

Feeling like an insider looking out at the world around, but not part of it.
Yes, I know this feeling so well and it hurts but we live on within our safe environment.

[Ana D S M]

I love and hate this poem for how it makes me feel. I guess it's the sign of a good poem to invoke such feeling.

[dan]

The grass is always greener, fear drives the strong to act...life's parade of clichés that sometimes seem to narrate our life stories...the simple hopes of a cat on the sill makes human nature seem so complicated...we wish for that simplicity, the yearning for something better, less dramatic. Thank you for your review, Lilith. take care...dan

[Ana D S M]

You're very welcome Dan. I enjoyed your poem.

[....................]

What a great piece about life in general: while there are those dreaming of getting in many dream of getting out. The grass may look greener on the other side but that's not always the case is it? Tank tops and cargo pants would do little here today to combat the -9 degree centigrade temperatures and the incessant falling of snow which continues to creep up the side of my house - I can see the peaks just above the window seal. Cheers - FT

[dan]

No, you're quite a bit further north than Pennsylvania; has this been a harsher than usual winter for you folks in the lovely Canadian provinces? It was one of the coldest winters ever here and there was only one other winter that had more snow. Thank you for your review! take care...dan

[....................]

We have had a very cold March dan but nothing we aren't used to here on the Northeast coast of Newfoundland. You are welcome sir! - FT