Featured poet: Peter Kaczmarczyk
Good morning, and welcome to another Feature Friday! Today is Peter Kaczmarczyk, a good friend and incredibly talented poet with three exceptional books under his belt; he was also a large contributor to both anthologies I released, one in October and the other in January. I’m thrilled to share five pieces from his most recent release, Could Have Gotten A Cat below, and strongly encourage you to grab a copy. It’s a great read, with wonderful photos from Lisa Kaczmarczyk.
Fat Shame A Cat
It’s okay to fat shame a cat
Helps keep him in his place
I do it almost every day
Even poke him in the belly
By the time he manages to react
I have pulled away
I will not bleed today
My vet covers his ears when saying
‘it’s diet time, he must lose weight’
My girlfriend insists he is just big boned
Takes issue with my unkind words
Just as she doesn’t like my calling
Her chihuahua a cat toy
But I will not be deterred
It feels good to fat shame my cat
All he does is look at me strange
Then amble to his food and stuff his face
Then turns his belly to the sky
Taunting me to again try
To poke at his great overflowing mass
Just the Cat
From across the house I heard it
‘It’s just the cat’ I told myself
As I turned over and tried to sleep again
Repeating my mantra like counting sheep
‘There is no such thing as ghosts’
It was always my rationale for
The disturbing sounds and mysterious growls
That all too often echoed through the night
Still, I lay awake, tried to ignore the fact
That the cat had passed away last week
Dreams
The cat, stalking, peered through the leaves,
its butt twitching sharply,
his dreams and desires were not to be denied.
Across the room the human sat, statue still,
his attention rapt upon a book
filled with human dreams.
He was unaware that his fate was already sealed.
The human had no time to react as the cat leapt,
ravenous, flew through the air, his claws extended.
The human gasped, his book knocked aside,
tumbling to the ground as the feline crashed upon his lap.
“Seriously, Milo, was that necessary, you could have just asked?
No need to pretend to be a leopard with me the prey.
Hold still you silly beast, now you get what you deserve.
let me scratch your chin and rub your belly.”
Aftermath
You don’t touch me in the same way anymore
You still call me to your side
Run your hand through my hair
Bring out my contented sounds
But there is a distance now
Your eyes wander
You stop your strokes till I nudge you
Start again but after a few moments
Your hand fades away
You still call my name in the night
When I am lost or confused
Trapped in my own terrors
But now you too toss and turn
Nothing I do calms you
I stare raptly through the window
Watch the birds chitter as they hop and soar
I dream of being able to fly
You used to sit with me
Share in my fantasies
Now you stare only at the screen
As you did that night when reds and blues flashed by
I don’t believe you think you can fly anymore
You sigh now not out of contentment but from pain
I will still rub your leg
Purr when you move in the night
I may not understand your world
But I know that you are sad
I’ll always come when you call
You will always be my human
Potpourri
Her apartment smelled of death
The death of hope
The death of dreams
Mixed together with
The sickening scent
Of cheap potpourri
A cat rubbed his leg
Meowed, wondered
Where she’d gone
Not knowing
She was never coming home
She had died
A junkie’s death
Strung out on
The need for feelings
That would never
Come to her again
Peter is a lifelong writer who only began to seriously pursue poetry in the last few years.
Raised in Massachusetts, Peter was willing to leave the comfort of Red Sox country when he learned there were Dunkin Donuts in Indiana.
His writing is assisted by cats, who think they can do better than him by walking across the keyboard. Sometimes they do.
Peter’s work has been included in over 70 journals and anthologies and he has published three chapbooks.
He is co-creator of the Captain Janeway statue in Bloomington, Indiana.
You can find Peter’s latest book here https://a.co/d/5UtWZbw his previous releases are also available on Amazon and I strongly encourage you to check them out.
