Cat With Fish

jcmontgomery, 3 months ago

This was something I found myself reading and re-reading, trying to understand its tone, intent and its effect on me. All I could think of was to respond in prose myself:
The prize is the fish caught,
who is the man caught
by the cat with its own
baseness in ihow
it toys with its fish

Perhaps I am reading much to much into this. But the cat has a prize, a fish which is equated to men in the last line, that this fish validated to the cat that its instincts and perceptions were correct….but were they? Are they?

Bradley Heden, 3 months ago

The poem is autobiographical and deals with women, and men, who through their own absence of self esteem are unable to accept lasting emotional relationships and consequentially withdraw from them through some action intended to reassert their own sense of control, such as through unfaithfulness to a boyfriend, fiancé, or husband.

The poem describes the type of women who need to have complete control of all of their relationships because they do not believe inside that they deserve to be happy. They assert their control through betrayal and subsequently validate their one belief that they never deserved to be loved.

I was inspired by a raku sculpture I just bought from a Baltimore artist. The theme I am trying to develop in the poem might be more distinct in a short story I am going to write as soon as I finish a couple of others I am working on now. Of course I already have the title: Cat With Fish

I know this really is a terrible poem but so many of my acquaintances have recently been writing bad poems I did not want to feel left out. I feel much more comfortable with short stories. More room to wiggle around in just like a pair of baggy sweats are easily more comfortable than a tight pair of Speedos. We writers should sometimes consider ourselves fortunate that the same quality control standards that apply, for example, to the food service industry or the health care professions do not apply to bad poems like this one because few of us could afford the liability insurance.

And now I am going for a run with my dog in the rain through the woods near my house which is something much more poetic than I will ever write.

jcmontgomery, 3 months ago

I would like to see this story and how you ‘wiggle’ around in it. It is interesting to me what you say in the first two paragraphs, and I like how you mention that this does deal with men and women as both sexes have proven to suffer from the issue of which you speak.

Writing metaphorically as you did does make for a difficult read, but do not think this reflects poorly upon you as a writer…many writings of this type are tough for anyone. I just recently read a beautiful poem obstensibly about a hummingbird, but no one saw what truly lay beneath.

I had left my comment and soon got an email confirming that I did indeed understand something many of the other commenters failed to notice. Not that I am so good at these things, but I am just saying that using metaphors such as you did does challenge one to think deeper and for some it is too tall a task.

Thanks for explaining this though. I hope that run through the rain was cleansing and refreshing.

Bradley Heden, 3 months ago

But it is still a lousy poem. Try Pale Fire by Nabakov: “I was the widow of the waxwing slain by the false azure of the window pane…” And it just keeps on going like that for a hundred pages or so… There was a guy who did not need liability insurance.