Hi all! Here is the first Peeking Cat Perspectives. I’m really excited for this and hope lots of people will join. Here’s how it works:
1. Take a look at the image below and write something inspired about it. It can be a poem, prose, or just a few lines.
2. Submit your writing by commenting on this blog post. All posts are moderated just so that we don’t get any spam, so they might not appear straight away.
3. You might want to avoid looking at other people’s responses before you write your own, so that you’re not influenced by them. We want to get as many diverse pieces of writing as possible!
There is more information about Peeking Cat Perspectives here. I’m interested to see how differently art influences each of us!
So here goes, my first 'submission' to Peeking Cat:
Separated by diamonds…
of a hard wire fence:
him on one side,
you walking away on the other,
unaware of knuckle-white fear
and frustration that you’ve left him here,
alone with his education.
Behind him, the playground is a blur
of confidence and familiarity,
friends and enemies unite
in their experience.
The new boy, with sore fingers
and an aching heart,
unable to tell friends and enemies apart,
turns and joins the fray,
longing for the end of his first school day.
Kim M. Russell, March 2017
Homing Pigeons
An urchin
stands outside the metal cage,
his feet covered with white
droppings and feathers.
Skinny fingers
try to touch the birds.
Pigeons with long legs
push their chests
so far out
they fall over backwards.
They tumble when he
claps his hands.
Motherless kid
watches nesting pigeons
fluff feathers around
red, gasping hatchlings.
No one around.
Cool, quiet night.
He opens the cage;
the pigeons scatter and settle
on their perches.
His fingers wiggle and wrap
around a featherless baby.
He holds it up
to the sky.
Blood oozes out from between
his desperate fingers.
Pigeons beat their wings
against the cage.