{"id":1742,"date":"2014-01-23T19:44:22","date_gmt":"2014-01-24T03:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alteritas.net\/GXL\/?p=1742"},"modified":"2025-11-28T07:50:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T15:50:32","slug":"puss-and-boots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alteritas.net\/GXL\/?p=1742","title":{"rendered":"Puss and Boots"},"content":{"rendered":"

A cat allowed her table scraps<\/span>
\nIs how it has begun, this dim<\/span><\/p>\n

Dutch I\u2019ve heard for years<\/span>
\nAnd now must learn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dishes fix the azimuth<\/span>
\nOf which one caught your words,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomething\u2019s\u00a0wrong<\/em>. I watch<\/span>
\nMyself as if I am not here\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

A dial tone replaced your voice,<\/span>
\nThe response I couldn\u2019t find.<\/span><\/p>\n

The clever kitty scoots away.<\/span>
\n The waiter makes his rounds.<\/span><\/p>\n

The harried waiter speaks in Dutch<\/span>
\n I somehow understand.<\/span><\/p>\n

He leaves. I try these sounds<\/span>
\nTo the lure the puddy back again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDear Boots, now but the moon
\nCan bounce my worry up to you.<\/p>\n

We are both cats, must live
\nFrom paw to mouth like them.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n***<\/span>
\n It was in 1989. I was in Cura\u00e7ao calling back to Edmonton. That would have been over a satellite-linked landline, which faded out in the middle of our exchange. Was it because there was a full moon, lunar flares? In any event, there was a stray cat under the tables, one known to and tolerated by the staff. Although I was in Cura\u00e7ao to study the local creole, Papiamentu, I was also trying to be at least civil in Dutch, the working language of that place in that time.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A cat allowed her table scraps Is how it has begun, this dim Dutch I\u2019ve heard for years And now must learn. Dishes fix the azimuth Of which one caught your words, \u201cSomething\u2019s\u00a0wrong. I watch Myself as if I am not here\u201d. A dial tone replaced your voice, The response I couldn\u2019t find. The clever … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Puss and Boots”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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