I am one happy Pisces! Or in non-hippie speak, I’m just a happy nerd. I love National Poetry Month! This is so much fun. Today’s prompt wanted us to invoke legends. One of my favorite Japanese folk tales is “The Boy Who Drew Cats.” And I don’t even like cats! But I guess they get a pass from me because this story is just so cool.
such a great childhood book. and cute illustrations too 🙂
The Boy Who Drew Cats
Prayers parade
and engulf the temple.
The searching wanderers
– man and woman –
sweep the pews
– night and day –
and still long
for an end to duality.
~~~~
A goblin-rat haunts the grounds,
birthed from the inner landscape
of tortured souls.
He devours the dreams
of warriors and puts their fight to sleep.
~~~~
An artistic child
needs to become a priest,
because he’s a lousy farmer.
The innocent refusal
of destiny.
The goblin does not care,
his grip on the temple
a vengeful cloud.
The boy hides at night
and comforts himself
by drawing cats in a cupboard,
imagining a meowing ecosystem
of ink, shadow and water.
When he wakes
there is blood.
His cats mangled the goblin
while the boy slept.
Priests are safe once again,
prayers reach anew the highest order.
Evil has severed from itself
by the gentle preference
of a boy’s soul.
swoopingcurve 