Poetry at the Post: More Cats! And Expanding My Weekly Journal

Cat, Failing
BY ROBIN ROBERTSON
A figment, a thumbed
maquette of a cat, some
ditched plaything, something
brought in from outside:
his white fur stiff and grey,
coming apart at the seams

I’m still writing cat, cat, cat…but I’m getting better. I’m now reading poems about cats.

Weekly Journal by Alice-Catherine Jennings

Stephen Sondheim “tells young writers even if they scribble nothing more than “cat” 60 times in a row, that’s better than writing nothing.” (The Wall Street Journal, “Staring Into Darkness, in Search of a Rhyme,” October 30, 2010)

Saturday: cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat ,cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat,cat, cat, cat.

Sunday: dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog.

Monday: fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist, fist.

Tuesday: cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat ,cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat, cat ,cat.

Wednesday: splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat, splat,

Thursday: bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

Friday: rest. rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest. rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest. rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest. rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest, rest.

Saturday: cat white, cat grey, cat white, cat grey, cat white, cat grey, ….

#mylifeisabestiary

And with that
loss of face
his face, I see,
has turned human.

In 2011, I had the pleasure of interviewing Robin on Marfa Public Radio. You can listen to it here.