Monday, September 06, 2004
A dialogue
Sometimes the cat leaps suddenly onto my desk
And skeptically peruses my papers or my books.
Unimpressed, she nonchalantly covers up a page,
Sitting on a paragraph, blocking out a thought.
Not for her what Milosz called the "tournament of hunchbacks,"
Nor for her the consternation of the would-be writer.
Not for her the scholar's wit, the literary joust,
Nor the low, incessant whine of neverending tweaks.
Unaware of other worlds, created out of lead and ink,
She revels in the heat of the halogen and hard drive,
And purrs, with what seems to me Panglossian aplomb,
"This--this--is possibly the best of all the worlds."
To which I candidly retort,
"That's easy for you to say,"
As I hunch back over my books,
And get back to my tweaking.
And skeptically peruses my papers or my books.
Unimpressed, she nonchalantly covers up a page,
Sitting on a paragraph, blocking out a thought.
Not for her what Milosz called the "tournament of hunchbacks,"
Nor for her the consternation of the would-be writer.
Not for her the scholar's wit, the literary joust,
Nor the low, incessant whine of neverending tweaks.
Unaware of other worlds, created out of lead and ink,
She revels in the heat of the halogen and hard drive,
And purrs, with what seems to me Panglossian aplomb,
"This--this--is possibly the best of all the worlds."
To which I candidly retort,
"That's easy for you to say,"
As I hunch back over my books,
And get back to my tweaking.
Improvised @ 11:15 PM 
Collective Improvisation:
Great poem. It reminded me of a poet I love, Billy Collins.
Kristen McCarty
Kristen McCarty
Posted by 
on 9/07/2004 10:47:00 PM : Permalink
Wow, that might be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me! Very few things give me as much sheer enjoyment as reading Collins.
Posted by 
Caleb McDaniel on 9/08/2004 03:55:00 PM : Permalink
