I first read TS Elliot years ago, perhaps in high school. Then a few years ago on a cruise, I picked up the TS Elliot collected poems and re-read them. I realized that TS Elliot’s poetry had deeply affected my unique poetic voice.
As part of a Writing com book review club, I am writing one book review per month, this month’s prompt was to read and write about an award-winning writer.
TS Elliot won the Nobel Prize in literature and richly deserved it,
My Favorites
I suppose my favorite poems are his Cat poems. I have written a lot of Cat poems myself as I have long been fascinated by cats, seeing them as alien creatures perhaps from another dimension.
My favorites were “The Naming of Cats” and “Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer.”
Among the other poems I liked were “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock “Gerontion” which is a reflection on getting old. I can relate to being 67 years young, ‘Whispers of Immortality.” And “Lines for an Old Man”.
The Waste Land” and “The Hollow Man” were difficult to really grasp but powerful and moving and well just strange poems. My favorite lines are:
“April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
memory and desire, stirring dull roots
with spring rain.”
Among the plays, I liked “Murder in the Cathedral the best .” and “Family Reunion “
For more on TS Elliot here’s a link to the Wikipedia page
Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic, and editor.[2] Considered one of the 20th century’s major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry. Through his trials in language, writing style, and verse structure, he reinvigorated English poetry. He also dismantled outdated beliefs and established new ones through a collection of critical essays.[3]
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a prominent Boston Brahmin family, he moved to England in 1914 at the age of 25 and went on to settle, work, and marry there.[4] He became a British citizen in 1927 at the age of 39 and renounced his American citizenship.[5]
I have completed 17 flash fiction pieces as part of the Writers Digest Flash fiction challenge. I posted “Cosmic Cat from Berkeley” below. I also completed three micro flash stories for the Writing Com micro flash contest, and daily haiku for the Poetry Magnum Opus challenge. Enjoy.
Day 1 Keys
Day Two Prompt Circular
Day three Prompt limitations
Day four mystery
Day Five: A Dream that Came true
Day Six: a character who tries to be
Heartful”
Day Seven: Workplace conflict
Day Eight: re-gifting
Day Nine Grim reaper
Day ten romance story
Day 12 magic
Day 13 grim reaper
Day 14 animal
Day 16 hobby
Day 17 Book
Dream 18 Time
the Stories
I have completed 17 more flash fiction stories this month, listed below.
Hidden Keys to The Universe.
End of The Beginning, Beginning of The End.
A Man Has to Know His Limitations.
Where Did All the Blacks Go?
Dream That Came True.
Sam Adams Crisis of Conscious
Sam Adams Workplace Conflict Leads to a Bad Day.
Sam Adams reignites the War on Christmas
Timeless Love story
Sam Adams the Hoarder (TBC)
World domination but at a terrible price
Conversation with the grim reaper
Sam Adams first Contact
The Demon Car Attack
Cosmic Cat from Berkeley
Sam Adams Discovers the Cosmic Conspiracy
Sam Adams Meets Gloria Magnolia Shah (from a dream)
Time Police TBC
The Cosmic Cat from Berkeley
(audio is for poem version)
The prompt was to include an animal character. This is based on a true story and is a prose version of a poem that has been published.
Sam Adams had grown up in the city of Berkeley CA, but after college, he had joined the Peace Corps in Korea, and later joined the State Department and traveled over the world, got married, lived in Seattle, and later DC, and had it not spent much time in his hometown.
One day he was on leave and he went back to his hometown in between assignments, and his wife was to join him later, then they would be moving back to DC for their onward assignments. She was in the military serving as an officer.
During this trip he realized that his mother was entering into dementia, he had seen her about two or three years before and she was OK then, but now it was obvious that something had to be done, He didn’t know really what to do. he had talked to his two brothers and sisters who he didn’t particularly along with and with his wife. Nobody quite knew how to approach her; nobody quite knew what they needed to do, but they all knew something had to be done soon.
With this gloomy frame of mind, every day he would walk out of the house. go down the street to a restaurant, have breakfast, go out into town go to a movie check out a museum, have lunch or dinner with friends and get back in touch with his old neighborhood and his old feelings.
the very first day he was there when he went out for his morning walk there was a black cat that looked at him. Sam had this feeling the black cat knew everything he was thinking. He quickly dubbed the black cat. The cosmic cat followed him everywhere and Sam quickly shared his thoughts with the black cat who seemed to have been reading his mind, sometimes he would talk out loud at other times he was just thinking and the cat would be smiling and he would hear somehow in the back of his mind the cat’s thoughts about the matter.
The cat was following what he was saying and the cat knew when he needed to do. The cat helped him clarify the decisions that had to be made. The cat well he was a cosmic cat. He seemed to know everything about Sam, his family, his wife and even knew what the future would hold for Sam and his wife. Sam was very fascinated by this black cat. He had no idea whether this was a Wildcat or lived in the neighborhood but he left milk, and canned tuna fish out for him every morning and the cat seemed to like that.
He had no idea how and why this cat seemed to be able to read his mind. Finally, concluding he was a cosmic cat perhaps this was just a cat that was temporarily possessed by the spirit of the universe and was talking to Sam giving Sam advice that he needed to hear.
With his gloomy thoughts in his mind he opened up to the cat and the cat continue to read his mind and give him advice as he walked through his old neighborhood. The cat waiting for him in the evening when he got off the bus and walked with him home and the next morning the cat would be to be there again for their morning rambles.
Sam felt comforted by the cosmic cat, who was always there. For two weeks, Sam and the cat engaged in this deep conversation. Sam finally knew that it was time to make a decision about what to do with his mother. He had called his brothers up and his wife was coming the next day.
They spent a few days together sorting things out trying to figure out what needed to be done, and eventually, the decision was made they would have to move his mother into a nursing home and then in a few years, they would have to be faced with what to do when she passed on because it was obvious that she was declining quite rapidly. She had lived a long time, she was 85 years old.
But the cat seemed to know what needed to be done and somehow Sam thought the cat was giving him advice that he should follow. One day he asked the cat
“Cosmic cat please let me know who and what you are
“ Are you God>”
the cat smiled at him.
“Are you Buddha?
the cat smiled at him
“Are you the great spirit of the universe?”
the cat smiled at him.
“Are you Allah?”
The cat smiled at him.
“Are you really just a cat?
The cat smiled at him.
“Are you satanic?
The cat hissed at him, and he knew he had gone too far. The next day, he told the cat that it was time for him to part ways. The cat smiled at him, and he knew the cat knew that it was time to move on. The cat merely walked away, and Sam never saw that cosmic cat again
He told his mother in one of her periods of relative lucidity about the cosmic cat, His mother merely said that that cat was indeed a cosmic cat that came to them in their hour of need.
Sam never told his siblings about the cosmic cat, He thought they just think that he was mad. He told his wife, and she also thought that this was just a mad story, and then he should not really think about it anymore. The cosmic Cat faded away in his memories.
Cats
The Cosmic Cat from Berkeley
Buddha Cat of Edsall Road
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
Walking By A Winter’s Frozen Lake
Playing The Piano At The End Of Time
I often wonder about Cats
What do they think of us?
It seems at times
That cats think of humans
As their slaves
We exist to feed them
To comfort them
To save them from their enemies
And to worship them
Yes, cats are an alien species
Totally different from humanity
Detached, and almost evil
If we ever encounter an alien civilization,
God help us if it’s a cat based civilization,
We would then be engaged
In the epic mother of all wars
As cats and humans would not get along
The cats would think we were their slaves
And we would resent and fear them
And secretly worship their alien ways
Buddha Cat
I had another encounter
With the divine recently
Another Cosmic cat perhaps
Perhaps not
who knows what cats are
are they aliens from another dimension
or was he channeling God?
I call him the Buddha cat
For the cat loves
Sitting in a meditative pose
Not moving
Just starting at me
With his soulful deep eyes
Boring into my soul
exploring all my secret thoughts
the buddha cat
does not move
does not react
as he is so deep
into his interior mediation
truly in tune
with the cat universe
and the cosmos as well
the buddha cat
seems to be
one with God
one with Buddha
One with Allah
And all the other
Billion Names of God
Known and unknown
The buddha cat
Can teach us all
About the art of meditation
As he zones inward
And loses his soul
Joining the cosmos
And becoming
The buddha cat
The buddha cat
Lives in a modest
Townhouse
In a modest suburb,
Proving yet again
The divine spirit of God
Is everywhere all around us
The buddha cat
Reminds us all
To look for god
In the everyday
All around us
If we but have eyes
To see
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
Sitting on the dock of the bay
Wasting time
Listening to the old classic blues song
Wondering how I got to this spot
This lonely place
By the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll in
And my life roll on
Rapidly fading into the past
As my life’s choices catch up to me
I will sit by the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll on in
With my life fading into darkness
As the sunsets
Over the bay
And the blues come over me
And I cry
Listening to the old song
These blues do not leave me alone
Walking By A Winter’s Frozen Lake
winter scene
Walking by a winter’s frozen lake
Under the glow of the full moon paraselene
As we abscond along the forest path
Blowing out my breath
On a jade necklace
With a lilt and tremor in my voice
I collapse on the ground
Asking my wife for a kiss
Telling her this is not a joke
Playing The Piano At The End Of Time
Playing the piano
In a blues band
Playing blues
For the end of time
One night I was starring
In my wine glass
Deep in thought
When I saw
Something in my wine
That haunts me still
I saw in the bottom of the glass
Evil dooers abandon evil
And became saints
I saw rich men give up
Their awesome greed
And poor people
Awarded dignity
And all men
Became brothers
All women
Became sisters
And war ended once and for all
And peace broke out
And hatred disappear
And I stared
Into my glass wine
I drink the wine
Hoping the vision
Would infect me
And change the world
But alas the world
Remained the same
The evil doers came back
The rich continued to conspire
And the poor still remained poor
And the war continued on and on
So I drank my wine
And went to sleep
Written by Jake Cosmos Aller – Incheon, South Korea
Tiger Shark Published my poem, A Poet’s Trial based on a recent nightmare
I find myself in a trial
Accused of harboring anti-state opinions
Of writing scurrilous seditious treasonous ‘poems’
Of encouraging disrespect for religious sensitivity
Of mocking God, Christianity and Christian values
The lead prosecutor in the case
Has decided to make me the poster boy
Thousands more have been arrested
Blogs have been taken over
Under the Protect American Freedom Act
Enacted by executive order
After Congress was suspended
The law the prosecutor reminds us
Is pretty clear
It is illegal to publish
Or to say in public
Obscene, seditious, anti-state
anti-American, anti-Christian
material of any type
Illegal to mock political
and business leaders,
And church leaders
Illegal to question
the motives of those in power
Illegal to print
publish classified material
Illegal to access such materials
online Or in print
The internet has been cleaned up
Access to such sites banned
And most of my work
has been banned
As well as the work
of all the other bloggers
Arrested during
‘Operation Restoring American Freedom’
And illegal to praise
the enemies of the United States
in the GWT – global war against terror
All of these provisions were enacted
under valid emergency provisions
and were enacted to preserve
and protect the freedom of Americans
to be free from such seditious trash
no one should be allowed
to publish such material
it is anti-American
to the core
the prosecutor announces
they will prove
I am guilty of all of these crimes
My private journals
my blog musings
my face book postings
as are my dream journals
And after hours of entering
this into the records
the prosecutor rest
Saying I am the most dangerous man
In America
My defense attorney quotes
hundreds of years of supreme court
and other legal precedents
Saying that writers can publish
whatever they want to publish
with a few exceptions.
The national security exceptions
do not apply because
I did not reveal classified information
and because it was clear
that my publications were intended
as either satire or dark political humor
or horror stories and poems.
If you read or saw sites online
my work was actually pretty tame
What was at stake
was whether Americans
had a right to mock their leaders
whether we had a right to express our opinion
and whether we had any freedom left.
It used to be that one
had a certain expectation of privacy
when writing in one’s personal journals
or diaries
If I am found guilty
then no American
will ever be free to think,
or write or express anything
other than the official party line
and America will become
Just another right wing
authoritarian fascist state.
The judge rules that those issues
are irrelevant.
All that is relevant is
did I knowingly write material
that violates the current law?
My defense attorney
noted that everything
I wrote was legal
under prevailing laws
at the time I wrote them
Since my arrest
under the new law
I have not been allowed
near a computer
nor allowed to write in a journal,
nor allowed reading material
other than a bible
and I am not a Christian.
I have been kept in solidarity confinement
for demanding what until
now was allowed to prisoners
in pre-trial confinement,
access to the internet,
phone calls
visits from friends and family
and exercise
All denied
and in fact
for the first four months of detention
I was lost in the system
My wife and family members
never told
Where I was
I was disappeared
No record was made
Where I was
I was a cypher
a ghost in the machine
i did not exist
In fact,
when my wife
hired a lawyer
And demanded to know where I was
The government’s position was
that was classified
And she had no need to know
And I have been tortured
during interrogations
where lawyers were not permitted
despite my asking for them
The prosecutor objected
saying that everything was done
under the provisions
of the Protect American Freedom Act
enacted while the Congress
was suspended
due to the national emergency
And the Protect American Freedom Act provisions
explicitly state that the act
and its implementation are beyond judicial review
I ask the court
to let me speak
I make an impassioned plea
to let me and my fellow bloggers go
and to rule that the Protect American Freedom Act
is unconstitutional
and while Congress has been illegally suspended
the constitution is still the law of the land
and the Supreme Court has not been outlawed yet.
All the actions of the government
Including suspending the congress
Ruling by emergency decree
are illegal and against the constitution
The Preserve American Freedom Act
Which is a mockery of the constitution
And bill of rights
All Are the hallmarks
of a fascist dictatorship
The type of government
That we fought world war 11 against
And just for the record
Thank you so much for calling me
The most dangerous man in America
That will be the title
of my next book
I guarantee that someday soon
I will write it
I turn to the Prosecutor
and said
Sir I think
our dear leader
made a mistake on that
Might want to arrest the Supreme Court,
and all the other judges as well
And declare that the Constitution
has been suspended for good
as it is no longer relevant
and our dear leader
is the greatest
most intelligent leader
we have ever had
I apologize for my writing
If it offended his sensitivities
So be it
And calling him a fascist
It used to be that stating
a factual statement
Was a legal defense
Look it up
He is a fascist dictator
It is not just me saying that
And while you are it
if you can find the time
after you finish kissing the president’s ass
that is
You should tell the dear leader
to not stop there
He should declare
the Democratic party illegal
and arrest all democratic elected official
Why not?
Send them all to prison.
That’s what I advise the Dear leader to do
The Judge laughs
and the Prosecutor fumes
The jury rules
unanimously that I am not guilty.
The judge asks
for an emergency supreme court review
of the constitutional provisions we cite
I am ordered released from prison
The next day
I am rearrested on new charges pending the appeal.
The Supreme Court rules in my favor
and I am ordered free again
I return home a hero
As the constitution has been restored
And the President removed from office
these are some of my most recent poems that I have posted on All Poetry, Poetry Soup, Cosmos-funnel, Hello Poetry, Poetry Opus Magnum, Fan Story and Sweek among other places. Check it out.
end of the worldDeep Fake Era
Demon Cat from Oregon
Strange Cat Looking at Me
Cat Dreams Kill All Humans
Visiting Father’s Grave
Ghosts of Yakima
Another Day Another
Mountain Forrest
End Times Approaches
Rumors of War
Deep Fake Era is Upon Us
The Deep fake era is upon us
Every thing is fake these days
Everything is a fraud
Prepare for the deep fake world
Fakery, fraud, and falsehoods abound
All artfully done Killing the last shred of human decency left
Everything is a deep fake
these days
Oregon Demon Cat
The demon cat
Lived in Medford Oregon
The demon cat was a big black cat
His eyes were filled with demonic energy
He stared at you
Looking into your very soul
Filled with anger, and hatred
For the entire human race
He seemed at times
To be not from this planet
Perhaps an alien species
Studying the human race
Or perhaps he came
Form hell itself
The demon cat loved to torment visitors
For some reason he hated the man’s daughter
The cat would stare at her from his perch
Down the hall from the old man
Then he would run at her
Screaming like an escaped banshee
Straight out of hell
She told her dad
Either the cat goes
Or I go
He said
See you later
The demon cat smiled
At the small victory
And she left the house
With the demon cat
Screeching good bye
Strange Cat Watching Me
A cat sits on the edge of a bed
Watching me watching him
Both of us thinking
What sort of strange creature this is
That has invaded our personal space
Upending our daily routines
The cat came up to me
Staring at me
with his soulful eyes
Boring into my very soul
Looking for answers
To these dark fundamental questions
The cat smiles a mysterious smile
And purrs in contentment
Having found an answer of sorts
And indicates that we can be friends
As long as I know
That he is the boss of me
And I pet him
Acknowledging
the time honored
Ritual of human cat interaction
That dates
back to the dawn of time
When humans and cats
First became aware
Of the other
Strange creature
that shared
our planet
Cat Dreams Kill Humans
cat sitting smiling
cat lost in buddha trance thought
cat dreams kill humans
Visiting Father’s Grave
Visiting my father’s grave
In Yakima
The ancestral land of the Aller clan
Thinking about my father
And his legacy
And thinking that I am
My father’s son
There is so much
I wanted to tell him
So much I wanted to share
So much I wanted him to see
My accomplishments
He was taken from me
Before I had achieved
my dreams
Before I had become the man
That he and I both knew
I was destined to be
Ghosts in Yakima
Walking along a graveyard
Looking for my father’s grave
Seeing all the gravestones
I begin to sense the spirits
Of the restless dead
They linger around the graveyards
Waiting for visitors
Eager to talk to anyone
Who cares to stop
And chat
So lonely being a ghost
With no one to haunt
Mountain Forests
Driving through the vast forests
Of Central Oregon
Through the wall of trees
I imagine them talking to me
The trees are whispering
Dark satanic rituals
Voodoo mumble jumble
Evil chanting
Then they speak
Loud and clear
Welcome humans
To our world
You think you are
The king of the world
The lords of creation
Masters of the universe?
Soon, all too soon
God and Gaia his daughter
Will tire of you
Their latest plaything
They will discard you
Throw you down
Disgusted at the world
You have made
You took the world
They gave you for your pleasure
This huge wonderful world
Filled with life
You took a paradise
Beautiful, bountiful
Rich and wonderful world
Turned it into a sewer dump
God and Gaia
are not happy
Not happy at all
With you stupid humans
They will rise up
Smite you down
And turn you
Into dust in the cosmic wind
And we will laugh
and we will be witnesses
at your funeral
but we will not cry
No one will cry
No one will miss you
No one cares about
The fate of humanity
And so you
Will fade away
Into the distance past
Just dust in the cosmic wind
And the trees started laughing
And the birds and bees
And all the other animals
All joined in the maniacal laughter
Laughing at the prospect
Of poetic justice For the enemies
Of the natural world
And the coyotes
And the wolves
Joined in howling
Under the light of the full moon
Thus I imagined
Would be the end of days
The end of the world
And the end of humanity
Another Day Another Shooting
another day in paradise
just another day in America
land of the free
Home of the brave
and guns
lots of guns
more guns for all
cries the NRA
yes another day
another gun battle
another white man
who just wants to kill
the President sends his condolences
Thanks the law enforcement
for an incredible job well done
It was horrible
Hate has no place
in our country
and we will take of it
and do what ever we can do
condolences
nothing but false words
empty words
lots of things to do
it is mental illness problem
but he fails to mention
the words gun at all
not at all
and tomorrow and tomorrow
but he at least finally said
hate has no role in our country
nothing but prime BS
in my humble opinion
he did not mention
white supremacy
his rhetoric had nothing
nothing to do about this at all
and so tomorrow
I will turn on the TV
and we see nothing
nothing has changed at all
and the dead
will remain dead
the guns will fire again
nothing will be done
welcome to America
land of the free
home of the brave
the End Times Approaches
why do I feel
the end times are approaching
with each passing day
the news gets worst
the hatred grows
the fear grows
the end of time
comes closer to our door
and I fear
the growing power
of the fascists
and their ilk
and I fear
that the world
is ending soon
Rumors of War
it seems that
we are in the end times
wars, and rumors of war
terrorism all around us
the dogs of war
are restless, just waiting
to emerge from their lairs
to unleash havoc
death and destruction
end of the world
and the leader of the world
our purported president
is every day
becoming more deranged
moment by moment
loosing his mind
as the inner demons
take over
and at such a time
when the whole world
seems to be sliding towards war
Our dear leader
seems determined
to lead us to the ultimate
war of all
world war 111
looms ahead
it could start any day
and nothing will stop
our idiot in chief
from unleashing
the dogs of war
updated to reflect recent publication of The Cosmic Cat from Berkeley, and the Buddha Cat from Edsal road – both published in the Universe Journal, Bangalore, India September 30, 2019, also recorded those two poems as well.
thoughts about Cats – the true alien life form living amongst us humans.
Cats Fighting In Incheon
Watching two cats
Fighting alongside the sidewalk
In suburban Incheon New Airport Town
Completely indifferent
To the humans walking around them
And the humans were indifferent to the cats
As they stood there fighting
And screeching at each other
One orange one
One half black half white one
Both middle age in cat years
As I sat there watching the cats
really getting into it
I wondered what they were arguing about?
But since I don’t speak cat
I really didn’t know
All I know is they were really screeching at each other
And almost look like they were about to attack each other
But one cat backed down
As the other cat stood their proverbial ground
If they were humans one would have pulled out a knife
Or a gun
And someone would have been killed
But being mere cats
They stared at each other
And walked away
but they kept glancing at each other
So, I knew the fight as not over
Merely postponed until a later hour
Cats truly are the aliens
Who live among us humans
Or perhaps we are the aliens
Who live among the cats?
Watching the black cat
Watching the black cat
Slinking about
I am reminded once again the cats
are not our friends
as I stare at him
an alien invader
From another planet
Mysterious Black Cat Looking at Me
As I look out
At the parking lot
I see a black cat
looking at me with dark soulful eyes
filled with mysterious secrets
I wondered
What the cat
thinks of me?
The cat looks at me
With a mysterious grin
The cat smiles at me
Like the Cheshire cat
He smiles
and runs away into the bushes
Watching three cats
watching three cats
p style=”text-align: left;”>gamboling along
looking at me
while i look at them
Each wondering what sort of weird creatures
The other is
And who is the real alien species?
three cats ready to go
three cats
at play
they look out at the world
and they are ready
they are born hunters
they are hungry
they are restless
and they want
to escape
from the house
to chase birds
squirrels
and other cats
to do their cat thing
That’s the cat’s life after all
they tolerate us humans
only because we feed them
But at heart
they are wild things
and wild things
Need to be free
Looking Out My Window
I look out my window
On the parking lot
In my suburban Incheon neighborhood
And see the black mad cat
That lives underneath
the apartment house
And look out at the park
Thinking of taking a walk
The cat looks at me
Kindred spirits perhaps
Retired waiting to die
Watching Cats Hunt
Early morning
Watching two white cats
Hunting a white dove
The cats hunt in pairs
Tracking the bird
The bird flies away
Safe for now
And I think about the cats
And the hunt goes on
Such is life
And the fate of cats
And birds
Cats
I often wonder about Cats
What do they think of us
It seems at time
That cats think of humans
As their slaves
We exist to feed them
To comfort them
To save them from their enemies
And to worship them
Yes cats are an alien species
Totally different from humanity
Detached, and almost evil
If we ever encounter an alien civilization
God help us if it’s a cat based civilization
We would then be engaged
In the epic mother of all wars
As cats and humans would not get along
The cats would think we were their slaves
And we would resent and fear them
And secretly worship their alien ways
The Cosmic Cat from Berkeley
I next encountered the divine many years later in Berkeley, California. I had gone home to be with my Mother while taking leave from my job in the Foreign Service. I had two weeks there by myself. My wife came later near the end of the trip. Every morning I woke up, had coffee, did yoga, read the paper, and spoke to my mother. She was sliding into dementia, day by day losing her reason. Then I would go out and explore the city, go to a museum, go to one neighborhood, see a movie matinee, have dinner with old friends, and just be there and re-discovering the Bay Area of my youth, after years of being away.
Every morning a black cat came to visit me. He was out in front when I got up staring at me, and waiting for to go out the door. The cat was friendly and waited for me and then would join me in my morning rambles following me to the bus stop or to the downtown BART stop if I walked as I frequently did. It was a 40-minute 2-mile stroll. And it was summer and the weather was delightful.
I started talking to the black cat, he looked at me with the spark of divinity in his dark soulful eyes. I called him the cosmic cat. He seemed to like that. He would look at me and I opened to me. I told the cat all my dark secrets as I walked the streets of the old neighborhood. Every morning and every evening the cat would be there to greet me and to carry out our endless conversation.
Then I had to leave and in our final conversation
I asked the cosmic cat
“Say, Cosmic Cat are you just a cat or are you a demonic cat
Are you possessed by God or by Satan? Are you a familiar of some dark witch?”
The cat looked at me and I realized that God was indeed residing in the cat but that God was residing everywhere, all around me. All I had to do was open my mind, and the rest would follow
So, I said goodbye to the cosmic cat and he purred and came up to me and I felt the comforting presence of the divine
As I said goodbye to the cosmic cat. And said goodbye to my demented mother. It turned out that was the last time that we would be able to really talk. The next time I met her was when I came out to put her in an assisted living facility. I never talked to her again as I had during those two weeks when I hung out with the Cosmic Cat.
I told my mother about the cosmic cat. She smiled and said that the cat was there for me and her to comfort us both in our hour of need. And that the cat was indeed
a cosmic cat.
“The Cosmic Cat from Berkeley”
I next encountered the divine
Many years later in Berkeley, California
I had gone home to be with my Mother
While taking leave from my job
in the Foreign Service
I had two weeks there by myself
My wife came later
near the end of the trip
every morning I woke up
had coffee
Did yoga
Spoke to my mother
Who was sliding into dementia
Day by day loosing her reason
Then I would go out
And explore the city
Go to a museum
Go to one neighborhood
And just be there
Rediscovering the Bay area
After years of being away
Having dinner with old friends
Seeing movies etc
Every morning a black cat came to visit
The cat was friendly and waited for me
And then would join me in my morning rambles
Following me to the bus stop
I stated talking to the black cat
He looked at me with the spark of divinity
In his dark eyes
I called him the cosmic cat
He seemed to like that
He would look at me
And I opened up to me
Told the cat all my dark secrets
As I walked the streets
Of the old neighborhood
Every morning and every evening the cat
Would be there to greet me
And to carry out our endless conversation
Then I had to leave
And in our final conversation
I asked the cosmic cat
Say, Cat are you just a cat
Or are you a demonic cat
Are you possessed by God
Or by Satan
The cat looked at me
And I realized that God
Was indeed residing in the cat
But that god was residing everywhere
All I had to do was open my mind
And the rest would follow
So I said Good bye to the cosmic cat
And he purred and came up to me
And I felt the comforting presence of the divine
As I said goodbye to the cosmic cat
And said goodbye to my mother
As this was the last time
That we would be able to really talk
I told my mother about the cosmic cat
She smiled and said that the cat
was there for me and her
to comfort us both in our hour of need
and that the cosmic cat
was indeed a cosmic cat
published in the Universe Journal in Bangalore India September 30, 2019
The demon cat was a big black cat
His eyes were filled with demonic energy
He stared at you
Looking into your very soul
Filled with anger, and hatred
For the entire human race
He seemed at times
To be not from this planet
Perhaps an alien species
Studying the human race
Or perhaps he came
Form hell itself
The demon cat loved to torment visitors
For some reason he hated the man’s daughter
The cat would stare at her from his perch
Down the hall from the old man
Then he would run at her
Screaming like an escaped banshee
Straight out of hell
She told her dad
Either the cat goes
Or I go
He said
See you later
The demon cat smiled
At the small victory
And she left the house
With the demon cat
Screeching goodbye
Mad Cat Shoe Lace
cats are alien creatures from space
cats
they truly are mad as a hat
from space
the buddha cat sits all day long
demon
escaped banshee playing demon
theme song
as they fly about like a witch
broomstick
flying in the air with their side kick
