Night Thoughts for dVerse Poets

43 Replies


Night Thoughts

They lie there like slumbering cats,
unaware of my presence,
then stir to stalk a field
where hidden metaphors hunch,
twitching, in the tall grass.

Whether they exist in a dream or not,
they do not know, but dwell there
in the shadow of my sleep,
transformed into jungle animals.

Exposed to the light of day,
they spring, as though tired of waiting,
into my conscious thoughts,
leaving their footprints on the page
where I jot them down guiltily,
a grateful plagiarist
who has merely trapped
the stuff of dreams.

Showing, then curling and retracting their nails,
paw after pawprint, they stalk
one line after another,
as, taking the credit,
I fill another page.

 

For dVerse Poets.  What Animal serves as a perfect metaphor for how you write?
See how other poets wrote to the prompt HERE.

This entry was posted in animal images, Animals, Poem and tagged , on by .
Unknown's avatar

About lifelessons

My blog, which started out to be about overcoming grief, quickly grew into a blog about celebrating life. I post daily: poems, photographs, essays or stories. I've lived in countries all around the globe but have finally come to rest in Mexico, where I've lived since 2001. My books may be found on Amazon in Kindle and print format, my art in local Ajijic galleries. Hope to see you at my blog.

43 thoughts on “Night Thoughts for dVerse Poets”

  2. ben Alexander's avatarben Alexander

    Judy, the metaphor of slumbering cats stalking metaphors in the tall grass is beautifully crafted, and the guilt of a grateful plagiarist and the vivid imagery of jungle animals in the shadow of sleep add layers to your verses 🙂

    ~David

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  4. Oloriel's avatarOloriel

    “a grateful plagiarist
    who has merely trapped
    the stuff of dreams.” – I loved this part especially, but the whole personification of cats was delightful, from leisure in the home, to hunting in the field, to being jungle animals.

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  5. Dora's avatardorahak

    Goodness, this is so rich with imagery, Judy! How do you tell the stalker from the stalked? How do you tell the dancer from the dance? Keep plagiarizing those awesome “jungle animals”! The imagery here is so rich, as in a dream vision: I loved “then stir to stalk a field/where hidden metaphors hunch,/twitching, in the tall grass.” Thanks for joining in the prompt.

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    1. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

      You are welcome, Dora. I almost didn’t do it, as it seemed a chore I wasn’t ready for, but then the animal took over.. And I just remembered another poem I wrote long ago.. must look for it, but I just remember one line: “Lost in the heart of the animal…..” Will I find it?

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  7. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

    I found it in an old chapbook. Its title was “The Dance of the Terrible Middle” and I had the first line wrong. It was, “Caught in the terrible middle of the animal.” There is another poem, though, that I can’t remember the name of, that I’m also trying to think of. Too many poems, too little memory.

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  9. Unknown's avatarJane Dougherty

    Ah! This is lovely! Cats are perfect for this notion, the stalking, the capture, then often the discarding out of boredom or sudden lack of interest.

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    1. lifelessons's avatarlifelessons Post author

      Once, shortly after my husband died, my cat walked over my keyboard. The next morning I looked, and it said, “Once a wife no regrets sold”. I have no idea how that could happen but I hadn’t written it,,,,

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  13. Rob Kistner's avatarRob Kistner

    Enjoyed this a great deal Judy. And yes, sometimes inspiration is aggressive. Sometimes it’s a aloof sometimes it’s just damn difficult. But — pardon the pun — it is always inspiring. 🙂✌🏼🫶🏼

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    1. SAM VOELKER's avatarSAM VOELKER

      Eilene your writings are like a song to me and I always find something of interest in your bringing to life of people you research and tell us about. You are able to paint a word picture of all of them, and to me it is not how a person writes but what they write and bring the written word to life. Thanks for your postings.

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  19. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    Gorgeous poem. Magical. Now I know who writes your brilliant poems and stories! They deserve their breakfast in the morning. Im always in awe of your word choices. The beauty of this poem amazes.

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