Cat Poems (2021)

I wrote “Patriarch Ponds” for a long-term penpal and fellow cat-lover who lives in Moscow. “Kittens of Cordoba” was inspired by a photo from a friend’s vacation in Spain. That photo featured a kitten staring into the camera from an enclave within a Moorish building’s facade. These poems demonstrate a technical mastery of poetry welded together with microstorytelling that uses cultural details from Spain’s history and Russian adages to to engage readers.

Kittens of Cordoba

Supple survivors of three civilizations

and many vernal competitions of once-private

patios stacked with floral arrangements,

they groom themselves proper

from toe tip to tail trail before

peaking from the heights of bridges,

from within metal lattices adorning

fourteenth century windows.

They lisp: Guardamos el flujo de historia

By Patriarch Ponds

Leonine along the limpid edge,

in his movement, his breathing,

his day, an orange puff

against white buildings and whiter

swans he disregards trees, and

humble millionaire Moskviches.

He pulls no cat’s tail. Take this

lesson: Leo is ever, even in April,

a winsome lion in winter.