Kats Muse

The Rampaging Mice

2010-11-02T05:13:10-07:00

Scurry, scurry, scuttle, scuttle
Six beady eyes peep through the hole
Let’s go on the rampage
Mrs Cat is not at home

Scurry, scurry, scuttle, scuttle
Twelve little legs head for the sewing
Nibble, nibble, undoing stitches
Mrs Cat is still not showing

Scurry, scurry, scuttle, scuttle
Three little mouths eat cheese on the table
Bread from the plate, milk from the jug
Let us rampage, while we’re able

Scurry, scurry, scuttle, scuttle
Little claws tear at paper on the wall
Creeping from the room to rampage further
Mrs Cat is not in the hall

Scurry, scurry, scuttle, scuttle
Three little noses sniffing and twitching
Smell the bacon in the pan
Mrs Cat IS in the kitchen

Scurry, scurry, scuttle, scuttle
Six little ears hear Mrs Cat’s bell
Scamper back into the mouse hole
Three little mice with a tale to tell

In Remembrance Of Bubbles

2010-10-20T08:21:05-07:00

For my mum, who put Bubbles to sleep

In Memory Of Bubbles

When memories fade and feelings falter
When no teardrops glisten my eyes
When the burden of grief fills my heart no longer
Then my soul like my darling dies

To what extent can sorrow extend then?
How many chords can it tear?
How many heartaches are inside one heart then?
To burden, to torture, to bear

She was just four years, a joyful creature
A character out on her own
With her emerald eyes, tabby face and white paws
And a gentleness always shown

She rests peacefully, an eternal sleep
An act of mercy and of love
For although cruelly made in this world, my Bubbles
Looks perfectly down from above.

©Kathy O’Leary 2010

The Computer

2010-10-18T08:12:39-07:00

This poem was written after my first computer course in Hong Kong in 1997. The instructor requested me to open up a “weird” site. It showed photos of cats going through a scanning machine. I felt shocked and saddened by this misuse of ‘new technology’

A wonder of today created by man-kind
A world in a case leaves pen and paper behind
Traveling the seven seas, in comfort, at home
Linked to connections, you’re never alone

A beautiful universe is waiting for you
Discover the miracles of what you can do
Knowledge is fun and easy with the click of a switch
You don’t have to be super smart or even ultra rich

Each day I grow more impressed by all I see
So proud of our race and its technology
Our future seems bright and it’s happening fast
But insidiously the loaded dice is cast

The computer has a soul; it’s a network of all ours
The computer has a brain, our waves its source of power
The computer has a heart; it beats in unison with you and me
The computer’s window reflects what our world will be

We are committed to pursue knowledge and understanding
As we advance, methods become more commanding
But in creating super minds we create super monsters too
Being ‘weird’ becomes ‘even weirder’ and soon it’s ‘nothing new’

So with the computer’s window as the eyes of our soul
May we design for it a more up-standing role
For when we manipulate a machine that mirrors our construction
We program the risk of mass moral destruction.

Allepy- a keyhole to India

2010-10-12T12:27:14-07:00

The Inspiration Behind The Poem

Allepy was written in India in 1990. After months of being overwhelmed by the abject poverty of this amazing country I was delighted and up lifted by a festival taking place in Allepy.

Allepy – a Keyhole to India

Through the backwaters on a warm winter’s evening
Greeted with firecrackers lighting the sky
Stepping into a magical, sparkling fairy tale
Arousal of senses as you walk by

Enchanting neon lights are glowing
A rainbow of colours splashed around
This street in Allepy- a keyhole to India
Peep through and capture what’s looking to be found

Smiling faces, happy and child like
Shouting hello, where you from, what’s your name?
The novelty presented from external differences
But scratch the surface and you’ll find we’re the same

Opportunity to escape from our world is uniform
Revert to a childhood which is joyous and carefree
To take the pain out of living if only for a moment
And revel in the wonderment of innocent fantasy

Destroying the blackness of night with vibrancy
The radiance of happiness you can reach for and feel
Conquering dependence on our quest for freedom
The swings and roundabouts of our life’s Ferris wheel

A festival to feed, nurture and nourish
Our minds our hearts, to rekindle youth
Enjoyment supplanting tension and fighting
Escaping from reality, from tomorrow, from truth

Maybe just another step along Life’s pathway
But this one created from smooth sandstone
Like a shooting star suspended from the sky
The threads of a web interwoven yet alone

Like blowing bubbles which vanish at birth
A fragmented dream aborted when woken
A smile that is washed away with tears
A hasty word cast never meant to be spoken

The screaming starkness of shining silver
The glitter of gold, gaudy and gleaming
Believing in witches, fairies, Santa Claus
Living in the land you go to when dreaming

Fantasy and reality are but halves of a whole
Begat from creation twin sister and brother
Magnetically opposing, simultaneously attracting
Each a single entity yet thriving on each other

For you’ll never know joy if you’ve not shed a tear
Nor see a rainbow without the sun and the rain
And you’ll never be happy on the roadway before you
If you don’t look behind you now and again

So just for a while abandon yourself in Allepy
Let magical mystery enrich your mind
Before you continue Life’s winding journey
Take time to really feel all that you find.

Vietnam

2010-10-08T03:11:20-07:00

Religious and political domination
Devour the soul and heart of a nation
Torn in two by historical unrest
And fought against by troops from the West

Media propaganda, truth distorted
A war which could have been aborted
Many lives destroyed, annihilated
Through evil sadism and utter hatred

Killing, maiming, torture, destruction
War is the vacuum, death the suction
A man’s game for just a boy
The loaded gun his deadly toy

And the wages of war is counted in blood
Your heroism is marked by the mud
And so we teach our next generation
We win by war, death and damnation

By Kathy O’Leary

The Doorways

2010-09-29T08:36:48-07:00

Doorways

She kept a rosary for
A vigilance by her bed
Each night afore she went to sleep
A thousand prayers she said

She asked to be released that night
In case her soul was taken
She begged that she may be forgiven
Not to the Goat forsaken

Each night she knelt in holy shroud
Her fingers deft and nimble
Her novena to the ones above
The rosary was her symbol

Her knees were blistered from the ground
Her fingers red and raw
Oft here into a sleep she fell
Her eyes dark ringed and sore

Each night she had the same dream
Three doorways opened wide
She went through each of them in turn
To find what secrets lay inside

Through the first door was a beggar man
Two empty sockets for eyes
Just a copper please, can you spare me?
The blind old beggar man cries

But our lady of a thousand prayers
Hurries out and shuts the door
The pleading voice of the beggar man
She now can hear no more

The second doorway beckons her
A tearful lady takes her arm
Please can you find my little son?
I fear he’ll come to harm

But our lady of the midnight vigil
Pushes her roughly away
I will not help you find your boy
And here I will not stay

Through the third doorway was a long black box
She held a key in her hand
Slowly she opened the Devil head lock
Slipping into another land

She looked around in horror and fear
Her mind ballooned with dread
Dancing around her were monsters and demons
Zombies and the living dead

An orgy was taking place in a fire
Two ghouls were having a fight
Vampires and bats were sucking blood from a snake
In a world which was forever night

And on a throne of human debris
Sat a bearded goat with evil grin
He beckoned a cloven hoof at her
You’re truly welcome my lady of sin

Mesmerised she approached the goat
No memory of the past
This was a fate that she deserved
The die she held was cast

Her life had been a selfish one
She had no time to care
She lived for pleasures and luxuries
With no desire to share

Now in the end did she believe her prayers
Would shield her from this plight
Eternity with the bearded beast
And the everlasting night?

Well we will never know for sure
The ultimate indulgence is hers alone
But through your life, remember the Doorways dream
Not at the end when you’re old and alone

By Kathy O’Leary

The Lilies In The Valley

2010-09-16T15:19:17-07:00

Lilies Of The Valley

The lilies in the valley
Are not white today
They’re blushing like a lover’s rose
And that’s the way they’ll stay

The stars above don’t twinkle
In the moonlit sky
They’ve closed their eyes on Mother Earth
They have their reason why

The wind wails woefully
Around in the gloom
The bats clouded eyes
Are aware of the doom

Yet on through this valley
Of Death do I stride
Where no shadow goes with me
But behind me does hide

By Kathy O’Leary (Vietnam 1993)

Cat And Mouse

2010-09-14T23:58:16-07:00

I’m lonely here the little mouse said
I’d like to play with you
His beady eyes looked from his home
Mrs Cat he was talking to

I’d like to sit on your back he laughed
And pretend I was galloping away
Away from this hole and smelly cheese
Yes that would make my day

I’d love to sit and stroke your fur
It looks so smooth and sleek
Your beauty is beyond compare
Your colouring so unique

I like the way your little bell tinkles
I hear it day and night
I know that you must be near by
And look forward to your sight

But I know that you would gobble me up
If I came out to play
So I’ll admire you from afar
And lonely here I’ll stay

Mrs Cat’s head grew so big
Her collar threatened her throat
Thank you for saying I’m beautiful
And ‘so unique’ to quote

But you know you have your beauty too
I’ve watched you by your hole
Your ears are sharp, your tail is long
Your eyes as black as coal

I think that you are lovely too
In your own special way
It’s sad that you should have to hide
While I’m allowed to play

And you know I too get lonely
So I’ll take you for a ride
Now hold on tight to my collar
We’ll go and play outside

So cat and mouse played happily
They’d never known such fun
And soon they became the best of friends
Their differences overcome

Mrs Cat brought fresh cheese for mouse
And he would stroke her fur
Their lonely days were gone for good
A happy pair they were

By Kathy O’Leary