Cat Eternal<\/p>\n
She was deeply etched in Egypt\u2019s ancient marble<\/p>\n
as oils of today are fluid in her image.<\/p>\n
She padded about the pyramids.<\/p>\n
She saunters gingerly now through the city\u2019s clutter.<\/p>\n
Mau, man\u2019s idol, was molded into powerful figures of clay<\/p>\n
much like the cat cast of this era<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Guardian of Europe\u2019s granaries,<\/p>\n
keeper of dragon-emblazoned silk,<\/p>\n
she sought, she seized, she slew.<\/p>\n
For mankind, for her own kind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s cat wraps herself sinuously<\/p>\n
around the hearts of many<\/p>\n
reflecting her ancestral likeness being<\/p>\n
lured into lotus-scented, bamboo-lined homes<\/p>\n
and coddled on laps of kimono clad figures.<\/p>\n
Lolling on Nippon\u2019s silken pads,<\/p>\n
she dreams of former hunts\u2026vivid dreams<\/p>\n
eclipsing swiftly from memory.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Soon the destiny of silk for future kimonos is doomed.<\/p>\n
The feline is forced into freedom.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She is free today, free to multiply,<\/p>\n
to starve, and to die<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sacrificial fires glowed in her honor<\/p>\n
holocausts leaving only her<\/p>\n
cindery skeleton,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was liberated from the ashes<\/p>\n
by man, who lay helplessly embraced by the<\/p>\n
shuddery blight.<\/p>\n
Free again, to roam infested alleys in pursuit<\/p>\n
of her natural prey.<\/p>\n
The horror of the plague graced the cat with new hope<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cat; a fireside sphinx<\/p>\n
A clown, making life her circus<\/p>\n
Possessor of a mystery that has<\/p>\n
resounded through the ages<\/p>\n
Predictable, in that she isn\u2019t<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eternally clad in her aura of dignity.<\/p>\n
Sidebar: I wrote this poem\u2014my first non-rhyming poem\u2014as a class assignment for a creative-writing course. And it makes me sad every time I read it. Right now I have an awful knot in my stomach. In case you miss the gist of the poem, let me explain:<\/p>\n
We follow the cat through history, as an idol in ancient Egypt. When Europe\u2019s granaries were threatened by rodents, cats were set free to save the nation. They became beloved pets in Asia until the ownership of cats was outlawed because cats were needed to protect their precious silk industry.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve all heard about witch hunts and sacrificial cats. Cats were thought to be evil and many were thought to be burned.<\/p>\n
However, when man was in dire danger again\u2014when the plague visited\u2014once again, they relied on the cat as a savior. And she was set free.<\/p>\n
Today, cats are actually represented in each of these scenarios, still. There are the coddled cat\u2014thankfully there are millions in this category. But cats are still being used, abused, neglected, and misunderstood. And still, her sense of dignity (sometimes, perhaps, recognized as aloofness) is evident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cat Eternal She was deeply etched in Egypt\u2019s ancient marble as oils of today are fluid in her image. She padded about the pyramids. She saunters gingerly now through the city\u2019s clutter. Mau, man\u2019s idol, was molded into powerful figures … Continue reading