Poet Showcase: Tracy R. Bowling / First Annual Indiana Poetry Festival

Ah, cats and poetry. Two of my favorite things, if you don't count sleeping in laundry baskets or harassing the dog. But you know what's even better than a cat or a poem? A cat poem! Among our countless other attributes, we cats have inspired poets throughout history. A few favorites come to mind: Carl Sandburg's "Fog," William Blake's "The Tyger," William Carlos Williams' "As The Cat" and T.S. Elliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." The cat continues to play muse to poets of our own time, and I'd like for you to meet one of them. We'll start with the poem, then introduce you to the poet, and cat, behind the words.

Finegood Morning

Fine—Good Morning, Kii.
Not sure how you think
my waking could be improved by your feet at eye level
and peculiar kisses breathed upon my nose.
It’s a fine Good Morning indeed—Thank you
for considering me worthy to share
with you a ruddy, shallow sun rising,
reflected gold in your round, changeling eyes.
(No,
maybe no one will notice your whiskers
if you comb them for once—) This,
Today
is yours as much as mine
A day to tell the truth, listen who will, and
Who’s to say that Kii’s not your right name—
not a lazy bungling of “Kitty,”
some testament to overtired tongues
and mumblers tangled in their bedsheets,
but foreign—Ours—
Yours and Mine alone,
our own strange language in secret cadence, rising,
then falling,
and I want to laugh
as I sigh, when you come to wish Good Morning to me.
True, my fine, good Kii.
It is a finegood-fabulous morning.

Copyright 2005 by Tracy R. Bowling

This poem, which describes the unspoken yet steadfast love shared between a cat and human, was written by Tracy R. Bowling. Tracy is a junior at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, majoring in English and Middle/Secondary Education. As co-editor of Butler’s literary magazine, Manuscripts, and a member of the Indy writing group The RRRRs, her goal is to encourage writers within and beyond the university setting. Tracy resides in Avon, Indiana, where her interests include quilting, foreign languages and composing music for local filmmakers.

"Finegood Morning" is about Tracy's grey cat Kii, who suffers from kitty breath mint addiction (guess catnip isn't for everybody). She also has another orange and white cat named Beau who is obsessed with "washing" people's feet. Tracy admits, "They're strange, but of course I love 'em all the better for it!" I'm sure they love you too, Tracy, and I mean that as a compliment (purr).

Tracy will be a featured poet at the first annual Indiana Poetry Festival, sponsored by The Writers' Center of Indiana, on Sunday, October 16, 2005. This event will bring together literary representatives from educational and cultural organizations across Indiana. Different tents and stages will feature the quality and variety of Indiana's poetry. This will include graduate poetry students, university poets, spoken word poets, local poets and poets featured in Indiana's varied literary publications. Music and arts entertainment and collaborations will play a vital role in attracting writers to other art forms and placing the literary arts amongst other arts forms. The Indianapolis Art Center's spectacular building and new ArtsPark will provide an exciting and appropriate venue. Here are the full details:

* When: Sunday, October 16, 2005, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
* Where: Indianapolis Art Center and Arts Park, 820 East 67th Street
* Admission Donation: $8 adults same day, $6 adults in advance, $5 students, 17 and younger free (purchase in advance or at gate, call 317.255.0710 for more information)
*Featured Poets: Poet Laureate of the United States Ted Kooser, Catherine Bowman, Dana Roeser, David Shumate, Donald Platt, Hannah Haas, Jim Walker, Karen Kovacik, Marianne Boruch, Mary Fell, Maurice Manning, Norman Minnick, Terry Kirts and many others
* Activities: Food vendors, beer and wine tastings and vendors, book sales and signings, music stage, poetry readings and kids activities
* For more information, or to learn how you can volunteer, visit the festival's website.

Special Announcement for Peter S. Beagle Fans

If you love Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn and many other wonderful fantasy stories, check out the article my lady wrote about her meeting and interview with him at this year's Dragon*Con, which appears in the latest issue of Jake Magazine . You'll also find one of his wonderful tales, The Fable of the Moths there. If you don't live in the Indianapolis area and want to order a free print copy of Jake, visit the Jake blog for more details.

If you're one of the first 2,000 people to purchase one of the new The Last Unicorn audio books, read by the author himself, from Conlan Press , you can receive a free autographed copy of Two Hearts, the follow-up story to The Last Unicorn. The story is also featured in the October/November edition of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, which is available for $4.99 in most U.S. bookstores. If you haven't read anything by Peter, my lady strongly encourages you to check him out. I like him because of the wonderful cat characters who appear in his stories. Of course, I'm biased. (purr)

You know what really pulls my tail? Well, you would think that a classic fantasy novelist like Peter, one who has touched millions of lives over the years with his magical stories, would be living comfortably. Well, that's just not the case. I recently learned that he has not received the money he deserves for The Last Unicorn animated movie, which is based on his book and for which he wrote the screenplay. There has been talk of a live action movie as well but, since he doesn't own the movie rights to the story, the project is in limbo. I sincerely hope that the movie isn't made until Peter gets back his rights to it. It would be a tragedy to see this wonderful story in the hands of anyone else. He also didn't receive the money he deserved for writing the screenplay for the animated version of The Lord of the Rings. But, with the help of his business manager, Connor Cochran of Conlan Press, he's fighting to get back what is rightfully his.

It's a shame that Peter has been treated like this. He deserves much better. I encourage everyone out there who loves his stories to join the letter-writing campaign, buy his books from Conlan Press instead of the local bookstore and spread the word. Peter has brought magic to millions over the years; it's time he had a little magic of his own.

To learn more, and find out how you can help, visit Conlan Press. If you're still wondering, "who is this guy and why should I help?" just watch these videos that Meg (a/k/a dead_duck_soup in Live Journal) filmed during Dragon*Con. You'll see and hear Peter singing a song from one of his novels and reading a book excerpt, as well as Connor explaining the problems they've had with getting the live action movie made. (The videos are near the bottom of the page, so scroll down until you find them.)