Poets' Corner

The selection for today is taken from 'mehitabel meets an affinity', by archy the cockroach. Archy and mehitabel are in paris, and mehitabel has found a boyfriend.

"mehitabel meets an affinity"

(archy writes)
"paris france
mehitabel the cat
has been passing her
time in the dubious
company of
a ragged eared tomcat
with one mean
eye and the other
eye missing whom
she calls francy
he has been the hero
or the victim of
many desperate encounters
for part of his tail
has been removed
and his back has been chewed
to the spine
one can see at a glance
that he is a sneak thief
and an apache
a bandit with long
curved claws
you see his likes hanging
about the outdoor markets
here in paris waiting
their chance to sneak
a fish or a bit
of unregarded meat".......

(Francy Speaks)
"tame cats on a web of the persian woof
may lick their coats and purr for cream
but i am a tougher kind of goof
scheming a freer kind of scheme
daily i climb where the pigeons gleam
over the gargoyles of notre dame
robbing their nests to hear them scream
for i am a cat of the devil i am

i ll tell the world i m a hard boiled oeuf
i rend the clouds when i let off steam
to the orderly life i cry pouf pouf
it is worth far less than the bourgeois deem
my life is a dance on the edge de 1 abime
and i am the singer you d love to slam
who murders the midnight anonyme
for i am a cat of the devil i am

when the ribald moon leers over the roof
and the mist reeks up from the chuckling stream
i pad the quais on a silent hoof
dreaming the vagabond s ancient dream
where the piebald toms of the quartier teem
and fight for a fish or a mouldy clam
my rival i rip and his guts unseam
for i am a cat of the devil i am".......

That is one bad boy of a kitty. One of his kind showed up at our house last year, and I managed to catch him. We doctored his wounds and our veterinarian performed an attitude adjustment on him for a reasonable fee. He is now part of the family, and follows me around like a lost pup. We contemplated names like Nitro and Taz, but settled on Brat.

Excerpts are from "mehitabel meets an affinity", "the lives and times of archy & mehitabel" by don marquis, doubleday doran & co. inc. garden city, new york