I see you, says the shivering cat
to the wind that ruffles her fur.
Your fingers are blue, your face is fat
and you rush around without a hat.
I see you, says the shivering cat,
and turns her back and will not purr.
I see you, says the shivering cat,
to the wind that ruffles her fur.
Picking Katie up from a party the other day, her friend's mother said "Do you know a poet called John Terry ?"
I admitted that I do indeed know him.
They'd been Googling him, and found my pictures on Flickr.
They told me the story about why they'd been Googling for John.
Ten years ago, young L had asked "Can cats see the wind?"
This question was passed on to John, and he wrote this poem.
It is a nice story, and a nice poem, so I did this picture for it. The weather vane with a gudgeon on it is in Bradford on Avon, on the roof of the lock-up in the middle of the bridge over the Avon; I got the idea for that from Bella, who painted another weather vane in B-on-A the other day.
Superb poem superbly illustrated. Before I got to the bit about the B-on-A gudgeon I thought that was a perch perched on top.
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ReplyDeleteHa-ha - brilliant, Dru. The idea of putting the fish in the wind above the cat is inspired. Did you visit Bradford-on-Avon virtually or for real?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I had to delete the first comment as I said something really silly.
lovely!
ReplyDeleteCats aren't keen on having their fur ruffled by wind, are they!
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Deleteme neither, come to that, Gwynneth! -it only takes a breath of wind for me to adopt the through-hedge-backward look...
Deletemy grandmother used to call that "looking like the wreck of the Hesperus" !
DeleteThank you, Thomas! I agree; for a gudgeon, it is a bit perchlike
ReplyDeleteIt was a virtual visit, Bella. I was really quite sruck by the weather vane, as it were, when you pointed it out- and then when John's poem came to light, it seemed a good place for the cat to be. (We were in B on A a while back for the poetry, but it was too dark to see the gudgeon)http://www.flickr.com/photos/belvedere/7019231763/
That look like a very angry cat.
ReplyDeleteNice story, nice poem, nice illustration. I'm sorry I don't visit here more, having gotten so much inspiration here. Today I ordered RS Thomas's last collection of poems. Thanks, Dru.
ReplyDeletea sullen and resentful cat, perhaps? Cats don't seem to do guilty and hangdog like dogs do, do they, come to think of it
ReplyDeleteThank you, Larry; and nice to see you again!
Lovely on all levels ... apart from the one where the cat is, obvs.
ReplyDeleteI love the cat's "Fuck. You. All" expression.
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