Wednesday 29 January 2014

Tuesday Poem: "The Emperor of Tunafish" by Wallace Steven's Cat


Call the opener of little round tins, 
The strong-fingered one, and bid him spill
From kitchen cupboards concatenating cans. 
Let the rats nibble on fresh greens
As they are wont to do, and let the moles
Dig tunnels in the path of the lawnmower. 
Let food be finale of wish. 
The only emperor is the emperor of tunafish. 

Take from the drawer on slides, 
The one where the gadgets are kept, that thing
With which you dismantle metal lids
And twist it so as to remove the top. 
Be sure to scrape off all the stew or hash
Before you throw the cover in the trash. 
Leave the can beside the dish. 
The only emperor is the emperor of tunafish. 

     -- Wallace Stevens' Cat. 


Wallace Stevens' Cat pays homage to his owner's masterpiece.

More about the poet, Wallace Stevens:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens



And Wallace Steven's cat:



dancing with joy after eating a feed of tuna fish.

I'd like to take this occasion to wish both of my readers a very Happy New Year and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014.

3 comments:

  1. Really enjoyed that, Andrew, although I usually run from any feline content on the interwebs!

    Is the cat called Andrew?

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    1. I'm not much for images of cats on the internet either, Penelope, but when I discovered this poem written in reply to its owner's poem, I couldn't resist posting it. I'm not sure what Wallace Stevens called his cat. Something poetic one would hope.

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  2. I love it! What a marvelous poem: "Let food be finale of wish" is cracker.

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