We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

31.12.18

Love, Eventually

Love, Eventually
















My black cat
with white whiskers
stares silently

eyes fixed
on my face:
the gaze of love
and trust.

Then she blinks
slowly, almost drowsily,
snuggling against my leg,
purring long.

A slight
and dainty cat,
she's ten.

When she came,
she was eight;
she stayed aloof, hiding
behind curtains,

claws ready....
One year before
purring; two to miaow.
But now –

we anchor and
orbit each other; 
true minds.


This poem is in a new form invented by a friend who wishes to remain private. She calls the form 'arch', in which the 4th stanza is – as she says – 'much like the keystone is for an arch, holding both sides together'. I'll be sharing this poem via Poets United's Poetry Pantry #434 in the New Year.

Details:
The poem is 7 stanzas long, with 69 words. Stanzas break down as follows:
1st stanza: 3 words/3 words/2 words
2nd stanza: 2 words/3 words/4 words/2 words
3rd stanza: 3 words/3 words/4 words/2 words
4th stanza: 2 words/3 words/2 words
5th stanza: 3 words/3 words/4 words/2 words
6th stanza: 2 words/3 words/4 words/2 words
7th stanza:: 3 words/3 words/2 words

27 comments:

  1. I LOV E this poem, and remember how long Selene took to settle in and how rewarding it was when she did. An interesting form. I will give it a go when my head stops shrieking, if it ever does.

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    1. Yes, it is an interesting form. Do you see how the middle stanza (4) is the pivot, and then it sort of travels outward from that the same way it travelled in? (Stanza 5 is the same as 3, 6 as 2, and 7 as 1.)

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  2. This is beautiful, Rosemary! Such warm feelings about your cat. You two definitely have bonded. I really like the last stanza and picturing how you anchor and orbit each other!

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  3. The form is as elegant as a well-built arch: I will try it! And the "Love, eventually"? I totally love the cat experience, and how it applies to human friendship. I liked the first version as well.

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    1. In response: https://susanspoetry.blogspot.com/2019/01/sounds-and-silence.html

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  4. I just read Mary's poem and both explore the form through pets... very pleasing to read.

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  5. thank you for showing us how this is done - with such a touching relationship of anchor and orbit. I prefer form structures where there is no predictable rhyme and will try this one out sometime. It's like a bridge or perhaps the arch of a cat's back when stroked!

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  6. It's such a joy when you and a pet start to "get" each other. Kit came with a bit of a learning curve as a rescue pup, but it was so worth it.

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  7. Loving it again, and intrigued by the form. Must try it.

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  8. So much like the black cat who showed up with her four kittens beneath our neighbor's house sixteen years ago -- all her brood was gone within five years, but she's remained our most faithful and durable stray (fear has served her well). I pine for not being able to take her in, but we have a bond of long accommodation at that border between house and wild. Not a pet nor a stray. Your poem sings the black cat differently; I would it could have gone that way.

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  9. Such an elegant form this is, Rosemary and you have executed it so beautifully!❤️ I love cats and can feel the love and trust here.❤️

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  10. To be anchored to another soul is truly one of life's greatest gifts.

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  11. yes, an interesting form, and elegant too.
    looks like dance steps too. :)
    i think your poem is a fine response to the form.

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  12. This is wonderful. To build such trust with a pet is wonderful... and the form works so fine (I have seen it and will try it at some point)

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  13. Time is so good at breeding trust, especially when all involved care. Thank you for the smile.

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  14. This is so adorable, Rosemary, firstly because I am a cat lover and secondly because of the wonderful details. Thank you for introducing me to a new form, which I will try at the next opportunity!

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  15. I like this - both the thoughts about your cat and the form. I'm terrible with form, but this sounds like fun. Maybe I'll try it sometime.

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  16. Love this! We have a rescue dog from the Carr fire. He has been with us now for 3 months--and each day he settles in more--but it is a long haul in some ways--trust will take time I think

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  17. I remember when you first got Selene and how you wondered if she would ever love you. I remember telling you to be patient. She obviously adores you. Such a wonderful love/Love relationship you two have !

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  18. This for is interesting--I like the way the second part emphasizes the behavior in the first. Love the entire poem. :)

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  19. It all comes down to the end, anchor and obit each other, true minds.

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  20. A lovely little piece and an interesting form. The 'arch' (as I mentioned in Mary's comment) works very much like the middle line of a Puente poem and gives a splendid symmetry (though the structure of the 'arch' form, it seems to me, has a bit more of a cadence to it, when read aloud). Love the way that the visuals in this create the comfortable mood and speak to the 'evolution' of the relationship.

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  21. I am so pleased Selene has found a loving home.

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    1. I am pleased for me too, to have such a loving companion.

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  22. This is the second of the form ive read. First Mary's about her dogs and now yours about your cat. Each poem an ode and a love song equally
    Thanks for dropping by my sumie Sunday

    Much🎉love

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  23. Thanks for introducing a new form of poetry - arch.
    Very pleasant read and your pet seems like your best companion -
    "we anchor and
    orbit each other;
    true minds"

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  24. Ah...the cat. Ever and classically a cat! Thanks for sharing.

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