Here is your assignment! Choose one of the artworks contained herein, and write a poem inspired by the artwork. Simple enough, right? There’s just one catch–you may not use the word cat anywhere in your poem, including the title. Other feline terminology is acceptable. Do let us know which work you have chosen in your post.
You can read other poems for this prompt here: https://dversepoets.com/2024/04/23/if-you-dont-like-cats-im-sorry
Louis Wain, What Shall We Do With The Feathers?
“Pushy!”
The shriek electrifies my fur
Alerts the feather ball to danger
Destroys my hunt
The baby bird flaps across the lawn
Leaping straight into the pool
Drat! I don’t like water
Turning, head held high
I stalk away
My human snatches up
the long-poled pool net
Scoops the bundle out of the water
Out of the corner of my eye
I watch her rub it dry
She sets it under a flower in a pot
Bonus!
There is no accounting for her stupidity
She leaves
I watch her walk up the path
I feel the grin
It’s splitting my face
My stomach grumbles
One leap – I’m perfectly balanced
on the lip of the pot
One swat – the quivering baby flies
up and out; landing on the grass
with a slight bounce
Eager for a game
of play with the mouse
or, in this case
play with the bird
I pounce
It’s dead
How disappointing
Baby birds are no fun
It died of shock before I could start
my teasing and tormenting
Pathetic!
“Yowl!”
I call my sister over
We enjoy our snack
“What about these?”
Smudge waves a paw
at the bloody pile of feathers.
“Don’t worry, sister,
I have a plan”
“Pushy!”
The screech pulls me from sleep
What now?
“Maybe she didn’t like our gift”
We look at each other
And grin
Wonderful cat poem. Beautiful kitty.
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Thank you, Timothy. They are pretty little girls.
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As a past owner of cats, I can relate … and I like it, especially it’s from the cat’s perspective.
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Thank you, Frank. Yes, cats are all alike. I enjoy writing form the perspectives of animals.
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Well done!
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Thank you, Sadje
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You’re most welcome
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Super poem. Gorgeous kitty!
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HI Esther, thank you. I know you are also a cat lover.
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Your poem reminds me of our dog’s younger years when he enjoyed pouncing on voles, moles, and frogs to play with/torture them, only to discover that he’d killed them.
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Hi Liz, Push can be cruel and she leads her sister into bad behaviour too. But I do adore them both and it is their nature.
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🙂
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This is amazing Robbie you really got inside you pussycat’s head… Love the photos too 💜💜💜
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Thank you, Willow. I love my cats but they can be cruel.
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Kitties do like the thrill of the slow kill – that’s for sure!
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Hi Jan, they do. They bring the phrase “playing with food” to life.
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I wonder if this is based on actual events, though I tend to assume you wouldn’t leave a baby bird in a plant pot with your cat around…😅
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Hi Melissa, it is based on a mixture of two events. The baby bird bit is real up to the pot plant part. I put Pushy away in the house and the parents came for the little one and they somehow got it back up the tree into the nest. It survived. The dead baby was another bird that I didn’t know about until it was too late.
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A purrfect pairing of pussycat poetry and pictures!
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HI Dave, I’m glad you enjoyed this. I had fun writing it.
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Dark and cleverly written. So true of dogs and cats, though i suspect cats are more sneaky.
I went to visit my elderly neighbour who has a miniature Dachshund Dolly. She was in the back garden and said she had seen a big mouse and hoped Dolly didn’t find it. At that very moment Dolly popped out of a flowerbed triumphantly and vigorously shaking the mouse in her elegant jaw. My neighbour was frantic, how could we rescue the mouse, but it was obviously dead, it’s neck broken I expect. My poor neighbour could not believe her dog was a murderer.
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Hi Janet, cats are more sneaky than dogs. I suppose they need to be, being smaller. It is normal for a dog to kill a mous and also for the dog to bring it to it’s human as a gift. I get gifts of lizards and mice. I don’t get gifts of birds any more. I’ve trained Push and Smudge. That part of this story is not true, although the beginning part is.
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i understand Robbie we have had lots of cats it the nature of the beast 💜💜
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Absolutely, Willow. Cats are predators.
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yes indeed and we will never change that 💜💜
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💞
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Great poem, Robbie, and beautiful pictures. Cats are such agile creatures.
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Hi Tim, they are agile and very independent of spirit.
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Oh, cats have a wonderful way of living their lives, Robbie. Your poem provides a brilliant view of life through the lens of a kitty!!!
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Hi Rebecca, I thought you’d like this poem.
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A perfect depiction of the POV of a cat!
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Hi Jan, cats are so funny. You can almost hear their thinking.
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I enjoy writing from an animals point of view. Poor birdie, but I know it is the way of life. Your cats are beautiful, Robbie.
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Hi Carla, thank you. This is based on a true story but Push didn’t get the baby. It actually survived.
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Love the day in the life of a kitty..great images, Robbie…I prefer dogs myself although I always had a cat as a child…I hope you have a fabulous weekend, Robbie xoxo
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Thank you, Carol. I also had dogs when I was growing up. I prefer cats 😊
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This was a fun poem to read and your pet is adorable.
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Hi Bernadette, I’m glad you enjoyed this poem. The killing of the bird is fictional.
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Seems very true to life, Robbie.
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Hi Merril, only the beginning is true. Push doesn’t kill birds. She has been trained to know birds are friends.
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Humans can’t control nature in ways both big and small. I wonder what cats think of us–this seems very probable. (K)
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Hi Kerfe, we can’t control cats but mine have grown up with birds so this is fictional. Push does like to stalk them though, especially my hadeda. Of course, the hadeda could kill Push, rather than the other way around.
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That’s good to know, that they tolerate each other.
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Yes, my cats have grown up with birds. I have a lot of them in my garden (as you may have noticed – smile!)
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I have!
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not surprised to see a touch of the macabre; after all there were some felines involved…
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Hi Jim, it’s nice to see you. This is fictional although the beginning is true.
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Hi Roberta; I hope all is wellvwith you and your family
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Yes, things are better this year. Thank you.
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glad to hear…
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So cute, two gorgeous cats! Good poem, too.
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Thank you, Chris. It’s amazing how many writers have cats.
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Your cats are adorable, Robbie, and your poem filled with the mischievousness that characterizes our cats! Wonderful writing, and filled with humor as well.
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Hi Dora, thank you. This was intended to be humorous and reflect the tone of the picture prompt 💞
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I was a bit horrified to see what looks like a Raven being devoured Robbie!
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Hi Wayne, the poem is fictional, my cats don’t kill birds. I have trained them. Push does catch lizards sometimes, and once she caught a mouse.
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It was the drawing I was referring to.
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Oh, I did wonder. Poor raven, but this does happen with feral cats of course.
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I thought maybe you thought this poem was true and I was a bit horrified. My girlies would not eat birds.
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of course not, pets are a mirrors of their masters.
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Yes, they actually are.
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ooops: sorry Roberta, somehow I missed this one: this is excellent — all the thrill of the chase, portraying the felines’ inner mind ; such gory fun; I’ve seen this played out time and again in my partner’s back yard: not much fun for the bird though 😦
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Hi John, this was a bit of fun for me. My cat, Pushy, is always stalking birds. She knows she may not kill them though. She is a good girl.
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I like that: the cat that does not kill !
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No, my animals are all trained.
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kt’s good that cats can be trained not to kill: I didn’t know that; would that humans were trained not to kill —
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Pets tend to follow the example set by their owners – in my experience that is. My cats are used to my bird population.
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Dark but delightful to be taken inside the mind of a moggy…
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I’m glad you enjoyed this poem.
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There are certain things we catlovers simply has to accept… it is part of what they are.
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Exactly. Thanks, Bjorn.
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Great poem and absolutely beautiful kitty
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I’m glad you enjoyed this poem.
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Nice poem. 💫
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I’m glad you like it.
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Your cats are adorable, Robbie, and I love that you wrote the poem from the POV of the kitty. Great poem! 💖
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Hi Lauren, thank you. I am pretty sure this is the sort of thoughts my girls have when they look at me so innocently.
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Hahahahaha That is about the cutest poem I’ve ever read. The stupid human, the smiles that cracked their faces about split mine, too. What shall we do with the feathers? Baby birds are no fun. I’m still cracking up. I must be a terrible person.
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Hi Marsha, thank you. This poem was intended to entertain with dark humour. You have made my day. PS My cats don’t kill birds so only the beginning is based on truth.
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It is still so funny. My cats did kill birds when we lived in CA. They had about 2 acres to roam and guard that were theirs, then they could roam around the other vacant lots on the street as well, not that they needed to do that. If that wasn’t enough, a creek ran behind our house – at least during part of the year. It was pretty wild back there, and they had lots of fun with their friends. Our neighbor lady has a feral cat colony of about 60 cats, so they have lots of friends.
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In those circumstances, I would expect cats to be a little wilder. Thanks for the story, Marsha.
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🙂
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Lovely poem without mentioning the word ‘cat’! A good answer to the challenge.
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Thank you, Stevie. I enjoyed writing this. I am sure my cats have very insubordinate thoughts when they gaze at me so innocently.
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your kittie & writing are lovley!
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Thank you, da-AL
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I didn’t realize both of your cats were calicos. Gorgeous. I hope this week is better for you. Big hugs.
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Hi Teagan, yes, this week is better and tomorrow is a public holiday. Thank you.
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Such a gorgeous kitty! ❤️
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Thank you, Pushy is very naughty.
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