A flick of the head,
a neck snaps
(one hopes)
the lawn blooms
with tufts of fur
his tail
a length of bowel
full of shit
Author notes
Pip 
photo: http://sparsemoments.blogspot.com/
Comments
1 - 16 of 16
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I realise, having read other comments, that the victim was your cat. I am sorry, truly, for your loss. One rarely hears about dealing with the loss of a pet, bereavement is bereavement. On a technical note this is a succinct and poignant write. You capture violence, pathos, emotional reaction and simple summation, a whole philosophy, in only 26 words, no mean feat. Bravo.
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I have to agree with katfair... cats do share their lives with us and those lives are closer to wild than any other 'domesticated' animal we have for pets. I've told friends of mine that wanted cats to always be prepared to, at best, wonder what happened to them and, at worst, to expect to experience what you have.
I know, it doesn't make it easier. the way I look at is... cats are warriors. they'd rather go down fighting than to die in bed. -
Hello Zara
Your poem is another way of saying:
that is life
and what is life.
It hit me hard.
Maria -
NEVER silly
to miss and mourn one's beloveds
in any form they come
the furry ones grab the heart like no others
one of my cats once disappeared for a day
found tufts of her fur in driveway
had heard great horned owls that dawn
wondered...then about 8 hours later found her alive
hiding, with two blood spots on her forehead...just like were talons could have pierced her,
we figured she put up a good fight in the owl's clutch.
our black cat, her daughter once had a battle with two coyotes in the morning in a field, and came home with spit all over her and gray fur in her claws. Though she died last year of cancer.
The wild edges in on the domestic. And cats bridge those worlds .
I know with my lost ones, their absence is so full of presence.
For months into years, I still see and feel them here and there.
I am sorry for your loss and appreciate your truthful telling.
the lawn blooms tufts of fur is perfect line
and awful.
kat
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It was YOU who made all those kind comments on my blog! I know several Kats and I didn't know who to thank. . . so, thank you! It was a treat to get all those in my inbox.
And thank you for your cat stories. I think you're right, the cats link us to the wild somehow. Pip was the best I've ever known, but getting old, so maybe the coyote saved us from some horrible decisions.
Lovely comment, thank you.
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Coyotes wander around here all the time. I took to carrying a walking stick when I walked the girls to school in the mornings as more than once I've seen them wandering the alleys at that time. The stick has an end that comes off and a spike underneath it..
Bailey is a small dog and I know what can happen..
is awful.. and I feel for you.. and Pip too..
it's not silly -- missing him, not to me.. not at all
they're getting worse.. so are the bears this year.
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Oh .. oh ..
oh ..
Did your cat get eaten by a coyote?
I am so sorry.
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Thanks Syl. I miss him terribly - you know how that is.
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once new a parrot named Pip
he got eaten by a cat
now a cat named Pip got eaten by a coyote
I think I know the coyote's name now...
and I bet
that not further than fifty miles
there's a truck driver named Pip too
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I looked at the photo. So that was your cat's neck and fur and tail and descending colon strewn about the lawn?
I hope you didn't spend too much money on spaying or neutering or whatever. That might intensify the tragedy.
Odd, that a cat should be prey. We could use some coyotes around here to thin the rabit population. Like rats they are.
I've given in to the inflated clap totals. I just don't want others to think I'm frugal with my applause or points. Silly.
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Bet you were hoping for a photo of the entrails, yeah?
I watched a terrier catch a marmot once, and she snapped its neck with a quick flick of her head, instant death, and that's what I hope poor Pip got. But yeah, tufts of fur, tail, and descending colon. Wolf scat is full of fur, and now I know coyote scat must be, too. Unbelievably clean feast. There was a tiny splinter of bone, too, white and shiny.
Pip killed his share of wildlife, so I guess fair's fair.
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I wonder if it is better to know or not know what happened to them when they disappear.
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Oh, I am very grateful to know. We would be frantic if he'd just disappeared. We love that cat!
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I'm sorry for your loss. A pet is such a comfort to each of us in many different ways...The cycle can be a cruel thing and sometimes I wonder why these things happen. I know it is the natural order for the big to prey on the weak, but damn, our own pets? That's just wrong. I loved how this was penned on a poetic note. It is short and concise and you allow the images room to adhere the message, without forcing it. Again, I am truly sorry. I lost a cat to a coyote and all I found was a piece of paw it left behind...That part was too hard to eat apparently. It was a sad day for me. You never truly ever get over these little tuffs of love we hold to us, ever tightly.
;
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Thanks James. I once had a cat who ate squirrels and would leave just the tail on the porch for us. Efficient, these predators.
I live in an urban neighbourhood, but close to a wilderness area. The coyotes can be seen at intersections with streetlights, even; we keep our pets in at night, but that night, Pip didn't come. I miss him terribly. Silly, some would say, and I appreciate your understanding.
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That reminds of lexy...my grandmother's cat from years ago...It would bring her these big fat mice and drop them on the front porch, still twitching and then look up at her, like "aren't you proud of me"? Once one of the mice wasn't hurt at all and took off the through the house. Ironically, about a week later, she found its head crushed in a mouse trap. I have a feeling the cat would have been happier to eat it, not watch it get thrown in the garbage. My parents live quite close to a state forest and they have all kinds of bears and coyotes. They have lost so many pets, mine included and I miss each one of them like they were my children. I am glad though that you could write his soul out. If he was human, I'm sure he would smile. In his own way right now he's purring from cat heaven.
;
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