Friday, November 13, 2015

An Engine's Sleepy Hum

I would like to see anyone, prophet, king or God, convince a thousand cats to do the same thing at the same time.
~Neil Gaiman

Today's post actually has nothing to do with cats, but I am sharing two poems from The Language of Cat by Rachel Rooney. Thank you, Rachel, for giving me permission to post these!


Fishing
by Rachel Rooney

I feel it, first as a stir,
turning deep in the murky water.
Surfaces up for air, a twitch
on the lake in my head.
A flip, and it disappears.

Wait for it. Let myself settle
close to the edge, my reflection and me.
Next ripple, a gentle skim and a dip
holds the weight of a thought
in the drag of my net.

Raising the pole, bent heavy,
my catch thrashes hard. Through the reeds
I can glimpse a glitter of skin.
Won’t let it go now.
I have this idea.

Hauled out and tipped in a tub,
I’m watching it flap; its mouthing pout,
that eyeball that stares defiantly back.
A sizeable fish. How big?
As big a a poem. See!

*********


Conch shell by Noel


Driving Home
by Rachel Rooney

I hold this shell against my ear.
Inside, a wave that sucks the shore,
music drifting from the pier,
a tapping spade, a seagull's call.

Listen, sea-shell. Can you hear
my heart sink slowly with the sun,
the rolling of a salty tear
and an engine's sleepy hum?

*********

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Wee Words for Wee Ones is the Poetry Friday round-up host.

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6 comments:

  1. Linda BNovember 13, 2015 at 9:40 AM

    Thanks for sharing this book, & the poems, Tabatha, both lovely, makes one think and enjoy the scenes. Love "holds the weight of a thought /in the drag of my net." And that ending, too.

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  2. jamaNovember 13, 2015 at 11:19 AM

    So nice to read work from a new-to-me poet, Tabatha. Love the first poem especially. Fabulous use of metaphor. :)

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  3. Bridget MageeNovember 13, 2015 at 5:06 PM

    Thank you for the introduction to Rachel Rooney's poetry, Tabatha. The second poem, Driving Home, strikes the perfect balance of melancholy and nostalgia. =)

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  4. Margaret SimonNovember 13, 2015 at 5:39 PM

    I am fishing right there in that poem. Thanks for introducing this poet to me.

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  5. Michelle Heidenrich BarnesNovember 14, 2015 at 8:09 AM

    This is certainly not the first wonderful new poet you've introduced me to, Tabatha. I wonder where you keep them stashed?! Thank you for sharing Rachel's work. The first poem, "Fishing," especially spoke to me since I, too, think of my ideas as fish– though more on the scale of goldfish in a fishbowl.

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  6. Becky ShillingtonNovember 14, 2015 at 8:18 AM

    Love these, Tabatha! I especially like the emotion of "Driving Home"--very clever!

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