They have a million silences to choose
from, grown from inner wildness and
outer tameness, or vice versa:
so communication daunts
novices. But when a cat wants
something particular,
he\u2019ll use
a dialect. My cat\u2014mews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After he laps his milk
he licks his fur
turning his inner forepaws
back to silk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, when desiring nothing, he will purr,
the inner calm
filling the room with sound as incense laces it with scent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though animal,
in his caprice
there\u2019s cause:
he\u2019s not entirely ignorant
of moods. Like a sudden squirt of balm
he plops on a needy lap
(his weight is a surprise
as herbal cream is cool,
at first). But then he spreads and casts a nap\u2014
his purrs\u2019 Tibetan rhythms hypnotize\u2014
as if he knew I needed a spell of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opalescent eyes\u2019
almond form
frames an in-lit mystery,
the hallmark of the species\u2019 history.
Behind, something cold as an ancient god
in a trice turns into a friend and warm
while seemingly staying as wild, and as wise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I waken soon more balanced, as if I
had fallen likewise from a tempting tree
and also had a tail. He looks at me
and leaks a certain dulcet rumbling sound,
with those Buddha eyes again dilating
betraying nothing
while implying everything\u2014
or is it the other way around?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then on a whim,
suddenly knowing I\u2019m no longer needing him,
he\u2019s off, like wind, to caress everyone.
I think he heard my neighbor\u2019s pre-school son
who adores the cat\u2014
for rougher, wilder reasons,
both being resilient, prehensile, and
able to adapt to souls and seasons
like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They rassle on the grass. Then, as if to understand
like me, the boy\u2019s eyes fix upon the almond eyes,
expecting perfection, open to surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They have a million silences to choosefrom, grown from inner wildness andouter tameness, or vice versa:so communication dauntsnovices. But when a cat wantssomething particular,he\u2019ll usea dialect. My cat\u2014mews. After he laps his milkhe licks his furturning his inner forepawsback to silk. Then, when desiring nothing, he will purr,the inner calmfilling the room with sound as … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/timothy-meinberg-AL2-t0GrSko-unsplash.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":789,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762\/revisions\/789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
A True Chili alum, James B. Nicola\u2019s latest full-length poetry collections are Out of Nothing: Poems of Art and Artists (2018) and Quickening: Poems from Before and Beyond (2019). His nonfiction book Playing the Audience won a Choice award. He hosts the Writers’ Roundtable at Manhattan’s Columbus Library: walk-ins welcome.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"