The Bookend Bunch

Hello, Tiger here. Sorry I've been gone for so long. Catnip abuse can do that to you. (Waits for laughs. Waits longer. Tries to think of a more clever joke. Mind glazes over. Clears throat.)

Anyway, my lady likes to call me and my sister Cassie the Bookend Bunch because we're so in tune with each other that we can often be found lying, sitting or standing in the exact same position. Sometimes we face each other, much like mirror images or bookends.

Cats and books. "You can't have one without the other," my lady says. "Nothing soothes the soul more than a book in your hands and a cat curled up in your lap."

Speaking of books, my lady recently finished reading the new Harry Potter book. Some people say it's a children's book and can't understand why she loves it so much. Maybe she's just a big kid at heart who will never grow up, but we still love her.

We also love the library, although we've never set foot in one. Cats, however, are not strangers to the library. Have you ever heard of a library cat? We never did until our lady found a video at her favorite haunt (the library, of course...duh) and brought it home for us to watch. Cassie isn't much of a couch potato, but I love to watch TV so I filled her in on the show. According to Puss in Boots: Adventures of the Library Cat, a film by Gary Roma of Iron Frog Productions, hundreds of library cats have prowled the stacks of libraries around the world. These kitties have made lots of friends and even inspired an elementary school classroom to start their own library cat fan club, but this story is not without controversy. Some people with cat allergies and phobias have spoken out against their local libraries. Sadly, some fanatical cat lovers were not very understanding, even going so far as leaving dead mice in mailboxes. It's impossible to keep everybody happy, but the libraries have done everything in their power to accommodate the wishes of all patrons.

If you'd like to learn more about library cats, visit Iron Frog Productions

Cat's Eye View: deviantArt

Are you too shy or busy to join a writing group? Poems not getting accepted (yet) by your favorite journal? You want the world to read your words but don't know how to get them out there. deviantArt might be a good place to start.

deviantArt is a community with millions of members who create countless works of art, from poetry and prose to photography and computer animation. You can create a profile, post your work and wait for comments. There are also communities to join, such as Poetry Please, where you can submit your own and respond to others' poetry, participate in online collaborations, chat, network and learn. There will be a special Q&A chat session with deviantArt poet zebrazebrazebra tonight at 10:00 Est. (-GMT) in the Poetry Please chatroom.

Check out deviantArt today. Maybe you'll find some great new artists to enjoy or find that all-important poetry portal for your own work.

One Cat's Memorial

Unless you've been asleep all day and most of the night, you've probably heard about today's terrorist attack on London's underground transit system, the Tube, and a double-decker bus. Cats sometimes squabble over things like food, lovers and territory, but we can't understand the rationale behind acts of violence like this. I wonder if humans will ever evolve out of their violent natures. Nothing should be an excuse for violence, not even religion. Humankind must accept their differences. Until they do so, peace will be nothing more than a wish. This is a sad day for the entire human race and concerned cats like me.

I'm also disturbed by another story I heard about today. A two-headed kitten was born last month and died before it reached the second week of life. It's amazing that the kitten had two heads. I always gawk with wonder at the Animal Planet programs that show two-headed snakes and turtles and livestock with extra limbs. But the thing that bothered me about this story is the fact that the kitten's owner has been breeding miniature cats, and this kitten was the offspring of one of these tiny felines and a normal cat. The breeder wants to market her own "line" of miniature cats. To me, this reeks of greed and a thirst for publicity, not love for cats or the desire for betterment of a species.

Two-Faced Kitten Dies

Here is a poem my lady has been working on. It's not quite where she wants it to be, but she wanted me to post it to honor the Londoners who died today for no good reason:

"Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings."
—Heinrich Heine, from his play Almansor (1821)

ALL THIS BURNING

We need fires that burn
from deep inside.

Fires that leap from our fingers,
race across countries,
ignite smoldering hearts.

Let us be fire spirits
whose flames wash away
this demon’s nest,

this burning.

Copyright 2005 by Karen D. Mitchell

Good night everyone, and take care of one another.

The Year of the Cat Update

I'm a sad kitty today. My little girl went off to her first week of summer camp. My lady sent her an e-mail today with pictures of me and my sister, Cassie, so that made me feel a little better. I've also been keeping myself busy by napping, eating, stretching, grooming, sunning and--of course--checking the e-mail.

We received a very important message today from poet Laura Stamps about her new book, The Year of the Cat. Although Amazon won't have the book until late August or September, it will be available from Kittyfeather Press around July 20. Ms. Stamps said that everyone who preorders the book from her through Kittyfeather Press will receive a signed copy as well as a free gift that will delight cat and poetry lovers. What a deal! I'll make sure my lady sends for her copy right away.

In the meantime, here is a new poem my lady wrote that was inspired by that nasty...I mean intriguing...cat who's been hanging out in our weed patch:

The Weed Cat

grows in a tomato patch. The humidity is high,
so blue and black stripes peel away

from her stalk like paper from a skeleton wall.
She bats at Japanese beetles that swarm gold flames around

her pyramid head, but they continue to chew singed whiskers
and sit on her nose, causing her to sneeze out

tufts of pollen that might someday create weed kittens
whose scruffs she will never grasp in her teeth, whose stems

she will never lick. Weed cat’s eyes are lemon suns
that eat the horizon. When she cries, children hold paper cups

beneath her and sell them for a quarter each to thirsty
adults who have forgotten the taste of summer lemonade—

and weed cats that grow tall and beautiful in unkempt tomato patches—
so they don’t even know the difference.

Copyright 2005 by Karen D. Mitchell

A Whole Year of Cats

I am one jealous cat today. There is a grey and black tabby hanging around in our backyard. Yesterday she scared my young human and her friend by flying out of the weed jungle that has overtaken the tomato patch. I watched from behind the window, my tail slashing Xs into the air. Then this morning, my adult humans saw the beast sunning itself on the deck. The lady swooned over the "Egyptian profile" and "yellow lantern eyes." Where's a hairball when you have a desperate need to cough out your disgust? Then I heard "Oh, she's so skinny. Can we feed her?" Next thing I know there are two plastic dishes on the deck, one filled with my food, the other with water. I guess I'm okay with this, just as long they don't bring her into the house. However, I do remember a lost kitten that slept under a deck a long time ago. Some friendly humans brought him into the house, gave him food to eat and a basket to sleep in. They didn't intend to keep him, but he grew so tall in their hearts that they could never cut him out.

If you're the type who thinks you can't ever have enough cats or, at the least, cat poems, you are in for a treat this coming September 1st. That's when The Year of the Cat: New Poems by Laura Stamps comes out. Here's a description of the book from Amazon.com:

Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, this beautiful book by award-winning poet and novelist Laura Stamps features 59 new poems sure to delight any cat-lover. Written for readers of all faiths, this mystical collection of cat poems is the perfect gift for anyone blessed by housecats or strays. The book contains three sections: "Cat Pause" (poems with housecats), "The Stray Kitten Chronicles" (poems about stray cats), and "The Year of the Cat" (a long poem, which first appeared in the prestigious literary journal Poetry Midwest).

You may pre-order The Year of the Cat from Amazon.com or directly from Kittyfeather Press. A cat-related chapbook, Cat Daze: New & Selected Poems, is also available for $5.00. You may also read a few of Stamps' poems on the website.

I hope my lady is inspired by the cat poetry of Laura Stamps and writes her own cat-related chapbook in the future. Of course, I will release it only if she agrees to feature my lovely face on the cover.

Thanatology of Moths

Hi everyone. It's your buddy Tiger here, taking a small break from my comfy spot on the couch to introduce you to the first book released by
3-Legged Cat Press, Thanatology of Moths. Writer Karen D. Mitchell (who also happens to be the person who feeds me and scratches my back) describes her book and how it came to be:

This book is a mini-chapbook that contains 10 poems (14 if you consider the set of five haiku to be 5 poems), photographs, collage, quotes and a few other surprises. One of my fellow writing group members challenged everyone to put together small zines on any subject and then get together in August to trade them and leave copies around town for lucky readers to discover. I have written several poems either about moths or in which moths play a role, so I thought it would be fun to create a zine with a moth theme. Like a caterpillar in a cocoon, my little moth zine kept growing as I added more poems and pictures. I purchased Microsoft Publisher to organize it into booklet form, took it to the printer and presto! my book had spread its wings. I chose the title Thanatology of Moths because thanatology is the study of death and dying, and moths are often associated with death and despair. However, we all know that moths are also attracted to light. These poems fly in a field of contrasts: darkness and light, death and life, depression and joy. They acknowledge life's darker moments, perhaps even embrace them, but at the same time they reach toward those sacred moments of illumination that we hunger for. Mirrors, a frequent poetic metaphor, also appear throughout. Reflections are always somewhat distorted, with dark and light blending together to create something new. Each section begins with a word, which I hope captures the essence of the images and poems that follow. Here is one poem from Thanatology of Moths:

moth in the lamp

In memory of all burn victims, whether Book, Cat, Jew, Christian, Witch, or Other

Satellite in orbit, it circles
a saucer of milk
that wrinkles the night and wets

the mouth, sweet
crater splashes, toothless bats dive
in and out, deliver

coded messages to whiskered
tides. Jagged tongues lap froth,

tail-waves a hurricane frenzy, bonfires

at sea. Crystal rum scalds wing,
singes antenna, burns the straw witch
and collects her tears in a glass

to count the hours, sacrifice
moonlight, allow the bodies to float
in peace.

Karen hopes to sell copies of Thanatology of Moths at future Indianapolis arts events, such as Oranje on September 15, 2005. Keep checking back for details about the many exciting events happening this fall in addition to Oranje, such as the Masterpiece in a Day competition in Fountain Square and two events sponsored by The Writers' Center of Indiana, the Festival of Writers and the Indiana Poetry Festival. If you'd like to purchase a copy right away, e-mail us at three(underscore)legged(underscore)cat(underscore)press@yahoo(dot)com for ordering information. Copies are $6.00. Shipping and handling to U.S. addresses is free. Now I don't normally brag, but I, Tiger, personally selected every poem that appears in Karen's book. If you're not into poetry, at least pick up the book for the handsome fellow who appears on the back cover. The wings were a little itchy, but I lived to tell the tale and that's all that matters.