Song For Mourning a Cat

You became wild, you became a street cat!

Did you not fly around my heart like a nightingale?

No longer is your beauty a revelation,

Your face no longer a place of worship.

Your former tenderness grew coarse,

What were your fineries, became torn…

How can your beauty betray itself,

How can wine turn to quinine?

I’m afraid for you – decorated with jewelry –

And now you’ve become like a gypsy

Prostituting herself.

An existentialist cat roaming the streets at night –

But who’s still dreaming of you? 

– nizar qabbani

To A Cat

Stately, kindly, lordly friend,

Condescend

Here to sit by me, and turn

Glorious eyes that smile and burn,

Golden eyes, love’s lustrous meed,

On the golden page I read.

All your wondrous wealth of hair,

Dark and fair,

Silken shaggy, soft and bright

As the clouds and beams of night,

Pays my reverent hand’s caress

Back with friendlier gentleness.

Dogs may fawn on all and some

  As they come;

You, a friend of loftier mind,

Answer friends alone in kind. 

Just your foot upon my hand

Softly bids it understand.  

-Algernon Charles Swinburne

Thanks, yet again, for the wonderful picture Margaret!

New York City Window Cat

This peeping tom is no perv.  Nice half 'stache!

Thank you my favorite Mikey.

the graceful one

this is a girl i've been wanting to blog about for a long time.  Lexy Hoff is a very special cat who lives in Kitchener.  She was born with double the amount of grace and sweet temperament than kittens usually are doled out.

She is lucky to have extremely devoted parents who appreciate her beauty.

 The sunlight illuminates her guard hairs - or is that her aura?

Graceful as a ballerina, but this kitten's got claws!

a true lady crosses her paws

I think cats washing their paws is one of the most lovely things to watch.  Cats!

and a perfect full tuck.  

Thank you so much to Lindz Hoff for sharing your beautiful angel with me and for your unwavering support of all animals.

Your Honor, would this face lie?

The face that launched a thousand ships

You can tell I love my mother because I have an "M" on my forehead.

Lenny knows that the camera loves him, and especially loves his leather pads and black velvet under-paw.

"Hey guys! It's me, Lenny (or Aslan).  I'm available for adoption at Toronto Cat Rescue!  

Just imagine if you brought a sweetie over to your pad and s/he saw this mug waiting for you.  

That's why they call me the wife-catcher. 

See my profile here! I hope you pick me."

Cat Lady of Parkdale sez: In a just society, we owners would be advertising ourselves on line for the cats to choose from!  Please support TCR by adopting, fostering, volunteering or donating!  Thank you.  

hey yeah i'm the tax man

A very portly and intelligent Camille helps Parker do her taxes in BC.

Once referred to by my sister as "the most beautiful cat I've ever seen", Camille Hewes not only has the beauty, body and brains demonstrated in this picture, she also has an exceptionally loving personality, incredibly soft fur and a beautiful, melodic purr.  This kit's really got it all.

when first we faced and touching showed

When first we faced and touching showed

there stood how much our meeting owed

to other meetings, other loves

The decades of a different life

Belonged to others, lavished, lost

Nor could I hold you hard enough

To call my years of hunger strife

Back for your mouth to colonize

Admitted: and the pain is real

But when did love not try to change

The world back to itself – no cost

No past, no people else at all –

Only what meeting made us feel

So new, and gentle-sharp, and strange?

Pictures by Margaret Kwan, poetry by Phillip Larkin.

Small Wild Cats Heal Wounds

Dearest readers, I'm sorry I've been remiss in writing.  I am busy, creatively blocked and sadly lacking in Parkdale cat pictures.

Last night I had a dream that a lion cub and mother came into my father's mansion on the hill.  In that instance I was afraid of the cats, but in the following instances these cats are making everything better by existing.

Would that face hurt a soul?

Oh hey guys, it's me, an Andean Mountain Cat.  I'm just clinging to this rocky surface, giving a steady glare to the wild.  I survive on my wits, claws, and fluffy raccoon tail that helps me look bigger to prey (but little do they know I'm very petite)!  And my paws are so fluffed out it's not even funny.

I am the classically glamorous Margay.  Look at the eye-liner!  Eat your heart out, Gaga!

The Pallas' Cat has always been my favorite small wild cat.  They have extremely expressive faces that make them look like they're always saying "who... me???" and the picture above convinces me that the Gods have magic and poetry at their fingertips. 

Two Libyan Cats in Palestine!  Honestly, what can I say here?  These sweeties look like cartoon cats!  Look at the smile and close-set eyes on the left most angel! And look at the expressive paw ("hey!") on the righter one!  If these two sibs can't bring peace to the middle east i don't know what can.

The smallest cat species in the world, weighing between 2.4 and 3.5 pounds, the rusty-spotted cat (i could have thought of a better name) lives in forests, grasslands and rocky areas of India and Sri Lanka.  The rusty-spotted cat has a reputation for being very ferocious and has been known to attack much larger prey. Watch out!

Look at the expression on this beautiful Asiatic Golden Cat!  He's like "take my wife.... please!"

Oh Pampas Cat - you're wild and free like me!!!

Black footed cat, from Southern Africa

I wish the Toronto Government would finally overturn Prop 9 so I could at last get married to this beautiful Pallas Cat!

Thank you so much Amy Egerdeen for inspiring this post and giving me some beautiful subjects to make my day.

The Adventures of Erin Oh in Cat Land

I know an enchanting young damsel by the name of Erin Oh, who spent the winter soulstice traversing the lands far and wide.  On her journey she came across a variety of cat friends.

I love cat friends of friends.  May I present to you:

LEO - a postmodern love story in three acts.

A tale/tail of courtly love, and the triumph of the spirit over adversity

of intrigue, passion and wheat coloured fur.

Buy a round for me and I'll tell you the tale of the trials and triumphs of Leo, a cream makeral tabby from the mean streets of Pittsburgh. From his devestatingly dark days at the Pittsburgh humane society and cruel owners who "just didn't want him anymore", to the dazzling high life he now leads in the home of Erin's mom, spending his days reclining resplendent on crocheted orange pillows that perfectly complement his fluff, and... of course, that heady day that he met her...  

PS: "FREE WHEATY!"

Castro's gonna like this post.

CATS OF PARKDALE PRESENTS  : : : CATS OF CUBA!!!!

 My dearest friendies, Steph and Lindsay Hoff recently visited Cuba, which you may know is a land of beauty, discarded flip-flips, poverty and rich white tourists. 

But did you know that Cuba is FILLED with cats?  Sadly, they are strays who rely on their wits 'n' claws 'n' jaws (and the generosity of resort guests like S & L who will share their pancakes and bacon) to sustain themselves.  

And now, all the way from Cuba, I give you...

A FUCKIN' CAT PARTY!!!!! 

Let's take a minute to examine the minutia of this scene...

Communication is crucial to any relationship, especially during periods of conflict.  Note the little one's reflection in the window.

This picture reminds me of how it feels to look into the eyes of my ancestors in old crumbling sepia toned photographs.  it feels like they can see you back.

When conflict or social anxiety presents itself, we are often faced with the fight or flight instinct.  This one chose  the "get me the hell outta here" option.

Stay tuned for more Cuban cats.

Barn Catzzz Part Trois

We're in a fight over who's cuter so we're not talking right now.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

Some of us are just blessed with perfect genetics!

Sometimes it's hard being this beautiful, because no one takes me seriously.  I have beauty and brains, but they just think I'm a pretty face.

Such is the plight of those of us born with perfectly applied eyeliner, beautiful blond fur and a naturally pink nose

i just luv walking in de grass.

Gotta stop and smell the daisies.

I should really end this argument.  I can't resist those massive paws.

But first I gotta smell these yella flowers.

the greatest dancers in the cat world

The feral Baryshnikov of Brockton

Uh oh!  Baryshnikov of Brockton ran into the Michael Jackson of Brockton!

Look at those twinkle-toes!

DAMN!  Looks like Jackson won the dance-off with Baryshnikov by default! Bary ain't even gonna step to MJ!  Forfeit! Blowing the lid off the dance world one cat battle at a time.

Maybe dat kitty ain't da best dancer, but he definitely wins the award for most lithe beauty.