The Zero Suite (6)

Zero is lying down today


but little specks of blood
on the bedspread
make me think

she may have run into
one of her twin nemeses
last night

Yellow
a big fat greedy
green-collared glutton

or Brindle
a raccoon-tailed
bully

each of whom
sneaks in the back door
several times a day

to eat her food
she jumps out
hisses at them

but is only a little cat
once or twice we’ve seen
them ganging up on her

unable to help her
unless it’s in plain sight
I suppose that’s it

our little cat
so wilful
cuddly

spirited
has become the thing
we most fear losing

yet cannot safeguard
threaten to crush
with the sheer weight

of our love


(18/1/16-22/10/17)

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This poem first appeared in the journal below:

Poetry NZ Yearbook 2020. Ed. Johanna Emeney (Auckland: Massey University Press, 2020): 117-18.

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The Zero Suite (9)

What to do till the sentinels come

Yes, astronaut and cosmonaut – report, indeed! Warn, if you can, your half-waking, half-sleeping planet! Tell them, if you can …

– Roy Thomas, Avengers #102

So how was Zero?
oh she was fine
did you have any trouble getting in?
no no

when we got home
Zero’s dish was empty
meat left unopened
in the fridge

the thunderstorm
had driven her outside
to cringe
under the garden shed

she had quite a lot to say
when Bronwyn ran out
crying and calling out
her name

it’s not that my mother
neglected her task
on purpose
she’d written in her diary

FEED THE CAT!
it’s just that her mind
now fills in blanks
with certainties

not doubts
there was a slight pause
before that “fine”
all I know is our cat

left alone
in the storm
my mother alone
in the fog of her brain


(11-23/4/18)

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Roy Thomas: Avengers #102 (Marvel Comics, 1972)

This poem first appeared on the webpage below:

Can Poetry Save the Earth? (Massey University: Our Changing World - 2018 Lecture Series, 31 May 2018)

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