Jeff
Jeff
His joy is a drumbeat on laminate ground. He is tethered here, doing nothing but won't restrain his bliss.
The Prompt
This tiny poem was written in a tiny moment tucked between Jeff’s weight check and heartworm test. (Just a checkup - he’s doing well on all fronts.) For the bazillionth time, I marveled at the happiness of this furry little friend of mine, who will probably develop arthritis in his tail from the wear and tear of incessant bliss.
In her beautiful interviews with writers,
always includes this question: “Tell me about any special relationship you’ve had with an animal, domestic or wild.” Today’s prompt is in the same spirit. Think of a particular non-human animal. One specific animal who has crossed your path or woven their way into your soul. It could be a particular bird perched at your feeder right in this moment or a particular ant traversing your kitchen floor. It could be the first horse you ever rode or the last dog who broke your heart.If this animal is still present in your life, spend some time with them. Look into their eyes (assuming they aren’t, say, a blind cavefish). Sit with them and feel their presence. Play with them if that’s a thing you do. Feed them something special. Or go back in your memory, sift stories and moments, feel your way into connection with that being again.
What feelings, stories, images, and sensations come to the forefront for you as you spend time with this animal or with the memory of them?
Does this animal have a message for you? What might you learn from them? What trait of theirs do you most admire? What would it be like to walk a day in their paws (or fly a day with their wings, swim a day with their fins, etc)?
As always, please don’t think that you need to think through every single one of these questions or squeeze a response to all of them into a single poem! Notice what pulls your interest, attention, or emotion. Follow the heat. Let it spark whatever poem is asking for expression in this moment. I look forward to reading what you share! You all are such a lovely bunch of animals.
P.S. If you’d like to share a picture to go along with your poem, you can do that in the 100 Poems chat or restack this post on Notes with a photo attached.
Incessant bliss.
I would like a shot of that every so often
Well this is a sad one, but it got me thinking about tender last moments with animals -- both my own babies and some others that I loved.
.
They try to lead her outside
by the collar but she is
so skinny it slips off.
She stands still and waits
for them to put it back on.
.
I carry him into a kitchen
he has never entered
and feed him bites of steak.
.
They push little squares
of cheese into her mouth
until one falls out.
.
We count down her minutes
together on the tile floor,
each a deeper thud
than the last, but she is
dozing and does not notice.
.
I am tugging at the seconds even,
kneading them out,
stretching them into
a shared blanket.
I am drawing a circle around
goodbye.