Pet
by Gloria Parker
You bring her home, give her a bell and collar--
a litter box—a name you think she’ll answer to.
For your amusement, the stripy little wildcat
stalks the rooms of your house under its aging
roof, till one day—maybe she’s at a window,
licking a paw, when her whiskers twitch and her
ears prick up at a signal you don’t receive.
It happens all the time, but this time, you notice—
fall out of your version of how the world operates.
Of course, the moment passes.She curls up
in a splash of sunlight for a nap and you go back
to your beer and Sports Illustrated.
But later, in an otherwise fuzzy afternoon, the sky
darkens, the wind rattles the windows, and you
remember what had occurred to you then—
that the roof could cave in anytime and only she
would know to run like hell before it did.
Originally published in the journal Nimrod in 2014.
Origin Stories – Pet
I’d been reading an article about the tsunami of 2004, which mentioned that many animals had headed for higher ground before the disaster hit; that some animals hear infrasound waves…waves that are below the lower limit of human audibility. I looked up to see my sleeping cat’s ears rotate toward something I’ll never know. That’s where this poem began.
Gyroscope Review Spring 2023 Issue Now Available
Previous Origin Stories
April 1 – Wanda Praisner
April 2 – Howard Lieberman
April 3 – L. Shapley Bassen
April 4 – Sharon Scholl
April 5 – Stellasue Lee
April 6 – Jeanne DeLarm
April 7 – Virginia Smith
April 8 – Patricia Ware
April 9 – Mary Makofske
April 10 – Ann Wallace
April 11 – Jessica Purdy
April 12 – Lakshman Bulusu
April 13 – Kim Malinowski
April 14 – Anita Pulier
April 15 – Martha Bordwell
April 16 – Anastasia Walker
April 17 – Annette Sisson
April 18 – Shaheen Dil
April 19 – Claudia Reder
April 20 – Cathy Thwing
April 21 – Sarah Snyder
April 22 – Susan Barry-Schultz
April 23 – Laurie Kuntz
April 24 – Maryann Hurtt
April 25 – Yvonne Zipter
April 26 – Jess Parker
April 27th – Kelly Sargent
April 28th – Robbi Nester
April 29th – Laurie Rosen
April 30th – James Penha
May 1st – Oisin Breen
May 2nd – Jennifer Shomburg Kanke
May 3rd – Karen Paul Holmes
May 4th – Judy Kronenfeld
May 5th – Julie Weiss
May 6th – Nancy Botkin
May 7th – Jonathan Yungkans
Previous NPM celebrations from Gyroscope Review
Let the Poet Speak! 2022
Promopalooza 2021
Poet of the Day 2020
Poets Read 2019
National Poetry Month Interview Series 2018
Book Links Party 2017