Beth Camp Historical Fiction

Saturday, October 26, 2013

October 26: Kitty sisters . . .


Two Philadelphia cats on kitty quilt (Camp 2012)
We kitty-cats are sisters
cat-napping, curled together.
I can always count
on sister-mine to keep my back
warm, her fur furry,
purring black cat,
sleeping off catnip.
We are almost domestic;
with claws, paws pounce.
Here, kitty, kitty.
Then there was one.

Kitty napping on kitty-quilt (Camp 2012)

I made this quilt for friends with cats to remember their white cat, Stella, now long gone, whose name was inspired by Marlon Brando's famous scene in A Streetcar Named Desire. My cat Tiger had a truly ordinary name, but he would leap on my desk and sprawl across student papers, marking them with paw prints when I worked too many hours. Sometimes our pets are as close as family.

11 comments:

  1. I have a friend who's going to love this! Forwarding to her on FB. Thanks for writing and the pics!
    (I believe Stella is a character from "A Streetcar Named Desire" not "On The Waterfront" ~ both young Brando though!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Tressa, for reading, enjoying, forwarding, and catching that glaring error. I fixed it!

      Delete
  2. "Stella!!!!" I know someone else who named her pet... in this case a dog, with that name. The quilt is gorgeous & I can feel the love for your kitty coming through your words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Julie. The quilting is kind of a background these days for all that I do. Wish I had my own kitty cat, though. I can't imagine a dog named Stella.

      Delete
  3. I don't know why but I absolutely adore the line about sister-cat keeping her fur furry! This was so cuddly cute...almost makes me want to rethink my stance on cats. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Anna. I did have fun with this. Your comment makes me wonder about cats as well and why we don't have one. Well, it's a little hard to travel with a cat, though I did once. I do like their independence, but if you live in an apartment, they poop in the house -- with all that entails!

      Delete
  4. I love all animals, but our dog Bobby (names after the awesome Boby Dylan) is certainly family. He's our little (size of a Shire pony) son and we adore him. After only one year we are inseperable.

    I therefore completely loved your poem Beth. It really touched my love of furry animals who are loved like humans. X

    http://shahscribbles.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, Shah. Glad you liked the poem -- and that you have that awesome dog Bobby.Give him a pet for me. I lavish love on every pet I visit.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous5:07 PM

    This poem made me squeeze my dogs super tight today! Animal love is so powerful, it's the only love I never question :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. My heart just fell into my stomach with that last part! Such love in this one.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous6:31 PM

    The poem is fun (except, of course, for the sadness of the last line). And the quilt is lovely. Well done!

    ReplyDelete