PARL Fundraiser at Nick-a-Nees
In June 2010, poet Mary Ann Mayer told us about a pet rescue fundraiser for the Providence Animal Rescue League (PARL) that she was attending along with her husband, Pete. We all thought it would be pet-tastic to create a special micro-chapbook to share with the fun(d)raising folks at Nick-a-Nees, bar & all-around cool place on South Street, Providence.
We sent out the call for pet-friendly poems and selected 6 gems in a micro called "Creature Comforts" with the following dedication:
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Origami Micro-chapbook |
Selected Poems |
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{mooblock=Crumb Count by Mary Ann Mayer}
The old bird dog stands her ground
before the cupboard, toenails gripping, stick legs splayed out over scratched linoleum. She lowers her muzzle, the color of lumpy Oreos in milk, to nuzzle for droppings from Mother Hubbard’s treats. Though never gentle with cookies, she’d always been tidy. Now she leaves half behind. She’s an old girl I can’t count her years exactly, but I can count the crumbs.
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Mary Ann Mayer © 2010{/mooblock}
{mooblock=Laughing at Fear by Kim Baker}
I can still picture her, there,
compacting the path around the fence line, fur white like bearing witness to risk. She will surely report back in ruffs and woofs, the presence of roustabout cats and suspect spaniels. I begin to brush her gallant fur, whisper good girl into alert ears. She yowls, Not now. Danger’s near. And so death sauntered in the gate disguised as a summer breeze. Only the memories of her canine antics, the endearing, unconditional love could uncollapse my heart. Now, I watch another fearless pet securing the fence line, fur black like laughing at fear.
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Kim Baker © 2010 {/mooblock}
{mooblock=Sonnet to a Corgi by Mary Mueller}
No, I do not blush nor retract the hand
That offers gifts, faint morsels, tricks of love To lure a kiss, sweet treats of rice and lamb. Forget the past – no harm the shredded gloves, The shoes in which I will not walk again. I know your nature runs to the herds, nips The heels of indolent sheep, heeds the queen’s Gruff command. Like a blind shepherd I grip Your leash. Such countenance demands my soul. Your ears attuned to sprites’ chatter inspire your smile. Those eyes framed in princely kohl are enchanted mirrors of devotion’s keen desire. But I, a human cruelly tied to earth Will return you to the fairies’ heart of mirth.
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Mary C. Mueller © 2010
{/mooblock}
{mooblock=Sleeping with the Cat by Deb Barchi}
Breathing in lockstep
my cat and I drowse in the sun-spilled room. Through slotted eyes he watches pricking the quilt with his carpet tack claws, shredding the convoluted cords that bind me to my dreams.
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Deborah R. Barchi © 2009
{/mooblock}
{mooblock=Bonds by Kara Provost}
I want to hold you,
little hedgehog with stiff short-quilled fur, heavy in my hands as a dense loaf of farm bread or a stone, but warm like that bread newly from the oven. After all, we are made of the same stuff: hedgehog, coral, flower, woman, man. I feel such affection for our bones.
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Kara Provost © 2010 {/mooblock}
{mooblock=Puppy Rescued by O.R. Gami}
She fits in a tennis shoe, size 9,
and needs pillows to reach the couch. She’s too quiet for a puppy and eats so much we think she’ll explode.
Bought as a gift
for a wife who just gave birth. Puppy in the basement, crated in the corner. Baby in the cradle, mother tired all the time.
No wonder the puppy was returned
and preferred to wait at the pound along with other furry creatures until wanted & comforted & not alone.
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O.R. Gami © 2010 {/mooblock} |
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