44839: Poetry From a Zip Code (2018 Edition)

A few more days are left in National Poetry Month; therefore, here is another of the poems this pedometer geek had chosen for the 2018 edition of 44839: Poetry From a Zip Code (published by Drinian Press, LLC). It was entitled “Erie Kai.”

Erie Kai

 

The cat was roaring…

wild

roaring all night long

I could hear it

in night visions—

a feral cat

invading dreams,

disturbing sleep.

 

In the morning still angry

with power,

lashing out its claws,

swishing tail,

leaving marks as it paced

and scratched, attacking its prey

with waves and water flying

all up and down the coast.

 

Anger spent,

the wind subsides, turning 180 degrees.

The cat begins to purr,

paws now velvetted,

lapping and grooming the shores once again,

 

Except in Canada where

the cat begins to roar.

~Nancy Brady, 2018

For those who live on or near the coast of Lake Erie may recognize the sound and fury of sustained north winds. Last night was one of those, and today, there is water everywhere over-spilling its banks. Lots of flotsam is thrown up the land and clean up begins again. Already, the winds have shifted and the waves have subsided. Erie is named for the Native American word for wildcat.