Big Picture

May 30, 2023 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

Piñons do not care
if Christianity gets its panties in a twist
over homosexuality.

A flying squirrel does need
a crucified savior.

A bighorn does not read passages
carved in stone tablets
found on a mountain top.

Flowers begat flowers
which begat flowers
which begat even more flowers
without a long record of names.

Mice do not debate the spiritual benefits
of capitalism and communism
in congressional chambers.

No grizzly bear has ever entered a church
and gunned down congregants
trying to start a race war.

No dolphins write smartphone apps
and lose endless days staring at tiny screens.

Oak trees lining a boulevard
do not purchase collision insurance.

Dogs befriend humans
in an effort to protect them
from their most corrupt fears.

Cats practice being there and not being there
depending on whether they are observed or not.

Show of Feathers

January 27, 2023 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

A flock of titmice
flit branch to branch
early in the day
before the three
neighborhood house cats
are let out to walk
the top of the cinder block wall
with the lattice fence
on their way
to the compost pile
compelled by their nature
to hunt fattened mice.

It Comes

June 30, 2022 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

When Paul sits outside at night
with dark spread everywhere
he pretends a window
keeps the bugs away from him.

He set a mirror against the south wall
at an angle to view the moon
to double the number
of reflections of the sun’s light.

Though we stay up all night
it needs to be minus six degrees
before dew forms
on the grass or our bodies.

The neighbor’s cat
is surprised and perplexed
to find us occupying the chair cushions
it likes to sleep on.

Paul posts an invitation
for the sun to rise over the Sandias
and delivery is guaranteed
by this morning.

Unnecessary

December 19, 2021 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

Dog chasing cat movies
went viral.

The cats sprinted up trees
to escape.

This was repeated
by differing species all over the world.

In thousands of postings
with billions of views.

A thousand million people
worry about the cat.

How the cat will get out of the tree.
Thus home.

No smart-phone documentarian
has yet filmed

a dead cat in a tree.

Why The Mimosa’s Blooms Glow

May 26, 2021 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

My neighbor’s cat
scratched the moon out of the sky.

And played with it
like any bird or mouse she caught.

What happens most often is
I bury the mess left on my front door stoop.

Usually near the garden.
Or in front between the mimosa & house.

Power Lines Downed By An Ice Storm

March 21, 2021 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

Night leaves holes in the sky.
Polkadot daylight.

Callous goat milk
leads a singing cat to slaughter.

Cows do not run around
like chickens with their heads cut off.

The eggshells Paul walks on
crack under his unbridled worry.

I stay up at night painting
word balloons for bleating sheep.

Paul trained the cock to crow
on the hour and carries it as his time piece.

When I see ghosts they are always people
not any of the animals I’ve butchered.

No matter how many barnyard cats live here
there are always plenty of mice.

I left the bible out and opened to random pages
hoping they would convert to church mice.

Paul stood up and danced after eating ice cream.
The brass section started up.

He planned his next confession
to be a musical number.

Emoji Parade

February 24, 2021 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ 1 Comment

A swallow collapsed mid flight.
Its autopilot landed it safely on a branch.

The day I thought fire rained from the sky
it was snow caught in the sunset beyond the clouds.

The dead apple tree becomes a host to animals
that prefer to eat old rot over crisp promise.

In the emoji parade I was the eggplant.
It did nothing to improve my dating status.

All the protests I birthed in thought but never made
visit my deathbed and ask Why not?

The swallow recovered itself, but walked home.
The neighborhood cat thought it a trap.

Blank Gun Silencer

November 30, 2020 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

Paul woke up Early on Tuesday.
He poured Early a cup of tea.

Early borrowed Paul’s car for errands
and stopped for scones.

Early returned home to find Paul
reading Blank Gun Silencer.

Paul returned his teacup
to the coffee table but missed the coaster.

Breadcrumbs littered the polished wood
around as well as on top of the ceramic dish.

As lunchtime approached, Early
stopped being himself, paused,

looked out the kitchen window
as a black cat stalked a roadrunner.

Paul felt sure this was a poetic metaphor
for the inevitable struggle.

The roadrunner easily evaded the cat,
leaping to the top of the fence.

Early faded out of existence
as the second hand swept toward noon.

Moon Traced A Slow Arc In & Out Of Clouds

November 26, 2020 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

There was still a Here then.
We had trouble locating it
as it rotated
continually turning.

It had a window by a door,
a birdcage is visible
with a canary
its song muffled by the glass.

But you remembered
three windows with drawn curtains
and a sense that Here
was where the secrets hide.

I remembered a cat
always interested in the canary
and how it leapt
and swatted at the cage.

We were somewhere else
and kept looking
away from each other
in search of a hinged door

that let us enter
the Here to meet with Now
sitting on a loveseat
watching the cat and canary.

Cushion

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ 3 Comments

Four AM walks past
my bus stop
as I sit on the cold green bench
awaiting the first
number fifteen of the day.

Grief litters un-mown grass
and concrete
around the bus stop
where it was left
by undone people
coming home from work.

Roadside, in the puddle,
the moon gleam
shows no sign of its craters
where a rat appears
near a grate
then scurries over to
the brimming trash bin.

Four AM circles back
in the guise of a feral cat
silently padding
through the taller grasses.
She strikes the beast
slowed down
by a partially eaten
burger with cheese.

The fifteen arrives
and I carry both
this stomach-filling victory
and family loss
into my bus ride trance,
but set it on the seat
across from me.