March 04, 2017

My Black Cat | #CapturedInWords



Black cats can be any shape, size, or condition
But mine's like a panther
Sleek, slender, smooth
His hind strong like a dancer

He visits when he feels like it
And stays for as little or as long as he likes
I know neither where he's been
Nor where he's going

In that time though
He is mine
I bury my face into his fur
And inhale the comforting scent of his pelt

Stroking his flank
He nuzzles into me 
As if I'm the only person 
He has chosen to touch him

When he's not there
I see him in my mind's eye
Stalking fences at midnight
By the light of the moon

So fiercely he stares
He grows wings
And a beak
Like a raven in the night

When's he's not there
His traces evaporate
Although my hands have held him
He dissolves

He is, without being
My black cat
He is, without being
My mind's midnight corvid

My black cat
Won't you leave me 
A little something
To remember you by?

Not a trace, he purrs
Not a trace
And disappears once more
Sinking into his darkness


#CapturedInWords


I have a terrible habit of never finishing what I set out to write and you know what? That’s fine. For me, writing is a progressive, evolutionary act and so I try to publish in short, first drafts to give myself less of a hard time and the freedom to capture whatever I feel at a given time. 


You can follow along on Instagram with the hashtag. I’d love it if you added your own, too.

SHARE:

February 19, 2017

The Verb To Be | #CapturedInWords

The Verb To Be | #CapturedInWords
This is an apple.  Can we (or should we) ever say that 'something is ', if it is not a permanent state of being? In Span...
SHARE:

February 11, 2017

The House by the Sea | #CapturedInWords

The House by the Sea | #CapturedInWords
I woke from a dream of an old life where I slept in the attic room of a tall, dishevelled town house by the sea. The tired timber fra...
SHARE:

February 08, 2017

Observations from China #5 | #CapturedInWords

Observations from China #5 | #CapturedInWords
I can see it, I saw it, I still see it now.  I can't go there, I couldn't, I never will.  I will remember it, though.  ...
SHARE:

February 05, 2017

To Be A Fig | #CapturedInWords

To Be A Fig | #CapturedInWords
Dear Mr Lawrence*, None a living thing is forever Better a bursten fig I'd be And be beheld In truthful majesty Than not ...
SHARE:

January 29, 2017

No Blue In Your Eyes | #CapturedInWords

No Blue In Your Eyes | #CapturedInWords
There is no blue in your eyes, really Just the scattering of light Of conversations started And left, unfinished Blue, be...
SHARE:

January 28, 2017

Observations from China #4 | #CapturedInWords

Observations from China #4 | #CapturedInWords
Rummaging through the attic of an old tea office in the mountains, the children followed me around calling out in the local dialect. I ...
SHARE:

January 02, 2017

Just a Thought | #CapturedInWords

Just a Thought | #CapturedInWords
Is the ability to 'destroy' my missing piece? Can there be love in destruction? It seduces me in my dreams. Dogs tearing dogs a...
SHARE:

December 29, 2016

On Resolutions | #CapturedInWords

On Resolutions | #CapturedInWords
When it comes to making resolutions, there have been many in my time but I'm not convinced that I've completed a single one...
SHARE:

December 08, 2016

We Need a Boatman | #CapturedInWords

We Need a Boatman | #CapturedInWords
Place your brackets around me Around us (And especially around yourself) We'll be safe there On your made-man sun Manacle me ...
SHARE:

November 27, 2016

Observations from China #3 | #CapturedInWords

Observations from China #3 | #CapturedInWords
We scrolled through small villages, never pausing for longer than a moment's thought, succeeded by another, the roadside washing ov...
SHARE:

November 20, 2016

Notes at 6:16am | #CapturedInWords

Notes at 6:16am | #CapturedInWords
 Last night I dreamt of a burnished American landscape in Fall  My reflection hung and pregnant upon my own gaze;  A swollen hau...
SHARE:

November 19, 2016

Piaf's Mask | #CapturedInWords

Piaf's Mask | #CapturedInWords
I found your eye, Blue Scratched into my notebook January 2007 Burnt there, lingering With notes on Piaf Her name Scrawled a doze...
SHARE:

November 13, 2016

The Nighthawk | #CapturedInWords

The Nighthawk | #CapturedInWords
I came to meet a nighthawk As the moon it swelled to its fullest fill Heavy, held aloft on the shoulders of the horizon As it r...
SHARE:

November 06, 2016

Observations from China #2 | #CapturedInWords

Observations from China #2 | #CapturedInWords
Along the snarling mountain roads of Anxi County, pumpkins, gourds, squashes and marrows grew haphazardly; tumbling from shed tops, gna...
SHARE:

November 03, 2016

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock | #CapturedInWords

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock | #CapturedInWords
Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table; Let us go, thr...
SHARE:

October 23, 2016

Observations from China #1 | #CapturedInWords

Observations from China #1 | #CapturedInWords
In the office of an old tea factory, the light of the late afternoon reached its arms into the dark space and illuminated that which ha...
SHARE:

September 29, 2016

Autumn Haiku | #CapturedInWords

Autumn Haiku | #CapturedInWords
An autumn morning  The skies they are sighing  In a slow grumpy roll
SHARE:

August 22, 2016

A Polite Man is Gone | #CapturedInWords

A Polite Man is Gone | #CapturedInWords
This grief is a quiet visitor Waiting for its turn to speak Gently, holding up its hand as if to say Don't mind me This g...
SHARE:

August 21, 2016

Sunday Morning Haiku | #CapturedInWords

Sunday Morning Haiku | #CapturedInWords
Sunday stirs softly A sip, a moment in time Alone with my tea
SHARE:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig