I HEARD MY CAT CRY
by April Halprin Wayland
I heard my cat cry
on far-away fences
“This dog you adopted—
have you come to your senses?”
“If you give him away
I’ll forgive your offenses,”
I heard my cat cry
on far-away fences
(c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved
x
x
The story behind the poem:
x
x
Last night I turned in another novel-in-poems. Not to an editor this time, but to the eight students and my professor in my Master Class in Writing the Novel.
Deadlines are great and powerful…and I’m exhausted!
Of course my brain is mush. I couldn’t come up with a topic for today’s first poem.
So I pulled out my old copy of The Scott, Foresman Anthology of Children’s Literature by Zena Sutherland and my long-time teacher and mentor, Myra Cohn Livingston looking for a poem for inspiration. I wanted something short which I could imitate. I found the haunting, “I Heard a Bird” by Oliver Herford.
~
As I was starting to play with it, I heard our cat, Snot, crying out my window. She is still wary of our new lanky, licky, too-tall teen-aged dog, Eli.
~
~
And the poem took shape. In a perfect world, I would not want the word “offenses” so close to the word “fences” at the end…they sound too much alike…but welcome to Poetry Month, where poems are raw and far from perfect!
~
~
Can you write your own poem based on the structure and rhyme scheme of Herford’s poem? Share it with us! (Pop over to my post on TeachingAuthors to learn how to “write” a book spine book!)
10 Responses
As soon as I began reading, I heard those lovely familiar rhythms…and I love it! What a fun direction to take with this poem. It does take a while for pets to figure it out. Just today I found two (former enemy) cats sleeping in the same bed. Congratulations on finishing your novel-in-poems! A.
Oh, Amy–the cat has been stunned and angry that we had the audacity to get a young dog after our old pooch died! We’re working on it, though…
I love the poem and the story behind it. I’m looking forward to reading your poems each day.
Your cat’s name is Snot? What a hoot. Your lovely poem brought to mind the day I brought home a rescue dog, and our cat was–well let’s just say she was less than pleased.
Thanks in advance for a poem a day. I look forward to each one.
Ann Wagner
I saw the sun rise
On a morning in April
A gift for my eyes
And a spiritual thrill.
The rest of the day
Passed in lovely surprises
I saw the sun rise
On a morning in April.
Need some help with this one April – don’t quite have the pattern there!
“…cry on far-away fences…” seems like we all cry from far away, from some kind of fence that keeps us out…a place from which our hearts yearn…Ah well, melancholy loves company.
Foghorn
By Hannah Ruth Wilde
I heard an alarm
In the silence of morning
A hideous sound
But a true warning
A ship hit ashore
Wailed a sailor, foghorning
I heard an alarm
In the silence of morning
I think there’s a better word than hideous. But, there’s a 10 minute poem. Thanks for the inspiration.
If I need an idea for my poem-a-day this month, it looks like I’ll be able to come here to find it! Thanks! (off to work on an “I heard…” poem…
Thanks for stopping by, Linda, Ann, Caren and Hannah–and for sharing your own poems, Caren (!) and Hannah ~
Ah, the pattern, Caren–always a challenge for me. Sometimes I’ll write out the pattern like this (small letter = rhyme):
LINE ONE a
LINE TWO b
a
b
a
b
LINE ONE a
LINE TWO b
and then it’s a matter of slipping in my lines and counting the poetic beats…not easy, but fun!