Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Reversed Cat

This book was written during a week,

September 28-October 3, 2010, when a

thick cloud covered the town. Every morning

it was there. Sometimes it crawled away for

a while, but at night it was out again.

During this time, amid other events,

our neighbor’s cat disappeared. I was

at work, looking through an old magazine

for a letter from 1938. Instead, on page 475,

I discovered a reversed cat.

October 9, 2010 2:03 PM, Bellingham


We Live Below

We All Have Places Awaiting Our Arrival

1971 Ford

The Balloon Man

Someday

Abigail

Sunny Meter

Living In Water

The Cobra Handler

Chapter 10

A Reversed Man

Coyote Alarm Clock

Instant Coffee

Chapter 14

Bellingham Bay, Saturday

The Floating Leaf

6 Year Old Photographer

The Great Speckled Bird

40 Watts of Apple


We Live Below

a lid of clouds

bound to the tops of trees


We follow the crows

leading the way

calling out names

in the white


We All Have Places

Awaiting Our Arrival


Birds find

what they want

a branch

held like a hand

above the river


1971 Ford


While we were eating

at the picnic table

surrounded by slides

and swings and fun


Someone left

two yellow tickets

tucked beneath

your windshield wiper


The Balloon Man


A blue uniform

made round

with hot air



Someday

growing in the woods

will be the dollar tree

and its leaves won’t matter

fallen around on the ground

like a bank robbery


Abigail

the blue flower

wears a paper mask

hides her looks

like Halloween



Sunny Meter


It’s been 3 days

raining and windy

the front step is empty

no sign of Sunny



Living In Water


We feel

every tremor

disturbing

the surface.


When it’s calm

we wonder

when will it

happen again?



The Cobra Handler


“You will think nothing

has happened, but after

an hour you will get sleepy.

It will be hard to talk,

things will blur.

Your breathing

will become difficult.

You will lie down.

Your heart will simply

stop. That’s neurotoxic poison.

It’s not a bad way to go.”


Chapter 10


Last night

watched the crows

crossing our yard



A Reversed Man

On a Frankenstein night

in 1938, Dr. Biocal wired a cat

to rows of lights and switches

and pulled the lever.

A lightning bolt hit,

lit the steep city rooftops.

The world’s first reversed cat

snapped free of the tangled

burning wires and jumped out

the window. Dr. Biocal stood

on the fire escape landing,

held onto the metal railing,

searching the dark.

Below him, the sidewalk rattled

with a big oak leaf. The streetlamp

gave it a black cat-sized shadow.

Days passed, he never saw it again.

A week later, he tried the experiment

on himself. Maybe he’s out there now,

A Reversed Man, walking the streets,

the wrong side of the road

looks right to him.



Coyote Alarm Clock


At 4:30 AM

a coyote wakes me

carrying a box

full of lightbulbs

barefoot across

burning coals



Instant Coffee


A jar

filled with

a shadow


Chapter 14


Mornings

the whole town

flying in a white cloud


No wonder

we feel this way


Bellingham Bay, Saturday


I can only say it’s beginning to read

like a horror movie script.

Saturday afternoon on a dock

in Bellingham Bay, a cold blue sky.

A dying stickleback is flipping over

in a pool of gasoline. It looks like

it’s got a motor in it, taking it

to the next drop of spilled oil.

We don’t stay long. I didn’t expect

so much pollution. We’re all just

riding out the storm. Even my son

tells me, when he falls on the lawn,

“I’m having a bad day.” That’s no lie.

I just wonder, are we in the middle,

or is the movie almost over?



The Floating Leaf


Sometimes

walking in the woods

you will see one

suspended in the air

it doesn’t need a tree


6 Year Old Photographer


“That would have been

a perfect picture

if she was in it.”


The Great Speckled Bird


I was waiting for the bus

watching the sky, morning blue

and pink, with a yellow speckled cloud.



40 Watts of Apple


Unscrewed

from the branch

it’s just right


carried back

to the house

a reading light


(p.s In case you were worried, Sunny the cat reappeared)

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