Thursday 3 June 2010

Author's Animal Antics - Adele Geras

Author's Animal Antics is a new regular blog feature here at Sarah's Book Reviews where I'm very excited to have some fantastic authors come and chat to us about their pets.  I'm thrilled to introduce the lovely Adele Geras as my guest today...

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I wrote this poem in 1999 when our beloved cat, Mimi, was still alive. She died in 2005 and we remember her with much love. She was a very beautiful tabby cat with a white shoulder, and, as her name suggests, the embodiment of elegance and grace. She was a completely useless hunter and quite often used to position herself as if to pounce but it never came to anything. Someone told us we were feeding her too well, but I just think she was both kind gentle.  Every word of what follows is true.

MIMI'S DAY
From her position on the windowsill
she gives the garden her consideration.
Later, both the camellias and the ferns
will undergo a full investigation.

First, she will be a small domestic sphinx
unmoving on the carpet, enigmatic,
thinking: there was a fire here last night
and now it's gone. All life is problematic.

The second serious question of the day
is: where to sleep? Which bed or chair to grace?
The velvet spaces of the chesterfield?
Or should she seek a woolly resting‑place?

They sometimes leave (she thinks) jerseys on beds,
or there's the shawl spread softly on a chair.
Also a cupboard, full of fluffy towels
and gurgling darkness..maybe I'll go there.

She steps into the garden after lunch:
a meal she'd hoped might magically be prawns
but wasn't. She is philosophical.
It is the hour for stalking things on lawns.

Squirrels are jet‑propelled and every bird
annoyingly decides to fly away.
She races up a tree‑trunk, just to show
she might catch something, on some other day

and meanwhile, she'll adopt a watchful pose
on a convenient step, warm in the sun,
until her head grows heavy, droops and falls.
The work of sleepy cats is never done.

The moths come out at night. Then she's awake.
Their grey and blurring wings catch on her claws.
When they are still, she stretches, bends and yawns
and with a sharp pink tongue, tidies her paws.

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Thank you so much for visiting today Adele!  Adele Geras is the author of the fab young adult novel Dido which was released in paperback in the UK in April.  I've just finished reading Dido and will be posting my review later today along with a fantastic giveaway thanks to publisher Random House Children's Books

Find out more about Adele and her work here - Website

For more information about the Author's Animal Antics feature click here

11 comments:

  1. Wow, what a beautiful poem and a great post. I really love this feature :) x

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  2. Thanks so much for posting this, Sarah and for the kind review too! I'm glad you enjoyed Dido. My husband has tweeted about the poem and put up a link on http://twitter.com/normblog

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  3. what a touching poem and lovely post keep up the great work!

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  4. I love the poem..so sweet and touching =) And I've read a lot of reviews on Dido too.All is good.

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  5. @ Carly - It is a beautiful poem isn't it! I've really enjoyed reading author's guest posts for this feature & I'm glad you like them too :o)

    @ Adele - Thanks so much for sharing your lovely poem with us! I really enjoyed Dido & am looking forward to reading your other books :o)

    @ Blueicegal - I'm glad you enjoyed it :o)

    @ Darlyn - It is a lovely poem isn't it :o) I really enjoyed Dido, it was a great book & I'm definitely planning on reading more by Adele

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  6. I love this poem.. And i'm a poem lover !

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  7. @ Mariska - I'm glad you enjoyed it :o)

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  8. Thanks for posting this! I love the poem!

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  9. @ Aik - I'm glad you like it, it's a fab poem isn't it :o)

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  10. Beautiful poem! Thanks for sharing.

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  11. @ Okapi - I'm glad you like it :o)

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