Chaise Rouge

If when my caretakers are sleeping
and the fan and its light
turns on mysteriously
and the moon shines a parallelogram
upon the desert sand carpet--
I find the red chair inviting me
after I take a midnight snack from
my midnight bowl

So much depends upon
this red chair
in material made for my scratching
next to the computer desk

I have sat down all night
and shed all over it
Forgive me
it was so fuzzy
and so warm

Translator's Note: As William Carlos Williams climbed over the top of Dima's poetry book, carefully he turned a page and then another and then slammed it shut. "Be careful to be original," he whispered to my cat before he stepped down into the pit of the empty flowerpot.

This poem is dedicated to 2 WCW fans--Adam and Patrick, both of the Badger State.

Living Ball

There is no question it is alive

I see the ball
Multi-colored, fuzzy, breathing

Out of the corner of my eye
I catch it in motion
But as I fix my gaze
It returns motionless
Taunting me in its stillness

But it lives, I swear to it
Professional in its inertia (or lack thereof)
It plays the patience game
However I too can remain static

The faceless ball waits.
Ready to pounce, I only inhale
...and exhale
With eyes fixed on any movement

In the meantime...
Footsteps pass on the floor below
Wind gusts blow around the parked cars outside
The clouds dim the shaft of light entering the living room
Suddenly the room hushes as the refrigerator stops running
But the ball is not phased

Neither am I
As the central air switches on
Blowing on the tufts of hair on my ears
I hear the ball laughing
Its many tufts remain still

But then...
A pulse makes the ball twitch
And I am on it
And it's caught in my jaw
Then torn by my back paws
I have it thoroughly tortured
It cannot escape me

...not even from the other side of a closed door

String

for
chasing
to
play
with
long
or
short
any
color
moving
fast
like
the
tail
of
a
rodent
moving
slowly
like
a
sneaky
snake
but
string
is
not
meat
I
shall
not
eat

Translator's Note: Dima has recovered from swallowing a bunch of string. While he was recovering, this concept came to him. He wants this to be published all around the cat blogosphere to raise awareness of the complications with string digestion.