.

My eyes espied a little bird
And in his mouth… a little worm,
That screamed a scream but no one heard.
To mourn a worm is quite absurd,
I guess his life had come to term.

That little bird… he sang a song,
He sang as if his heart would burst,
A song to sing his whole life long,
As if he had done nothing wrong.
He little knew his life was cursed.

My eyes espied a grinning cat
And in his mouth… that little bird,
Bereft of song and limp and fat,
His dripping blood upon the mat.
He’d screamed a scream but no one heard.

The grinning cat… he yawned and slept,
As if he had done nothing wrong.
Oblivious of I who wept,
Of I who could not intercept
And then an eagle came along.

I watched that eagle swoop and clasp
That feline in his talon grasp,
And of that grin on kitty’s face
There was no trace!

.

.

Norma Pain was born in Liverpool, England and now lives in Parksville, British Columbia, Canada. Thirty of Norma’s poems were published by Dana Literary Society, between 2004 and 2007 and she was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize by that same on-line poetry site. She self-published a book of rhyme in 2000 called Bulging Assets.

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20 Responses

  1. Joe Tessitore

    The fat cat’s scream, the eagle heard.

    Lots of fun, and thought-provoking as well, this poem of yours.

    Very well done, Ms. Pain.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you for your comments Joe.
      I apologize for being a little late in my replies as my “daily” email from Classical Poetry stopped arriving in my inbox, and I am so non-techy that I have no idea why! I miss reading all of the wonderful poetry contained therein and am frantically trying to find “the cure”.

      Reply
  2. Jeff Eardley

    Norma, thoroughly enjoyable. I was wondering who, or what was going to get the eagle. Great picture from Evan as well. That Sylvester was one mean moggie. From England, thank you.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you Jeff and thank you to Evan for the most appropriate picture.

      Reply
  3. Joseph S. Salemi

    “Nature, red in tooth and claw…”

    –Lord Tennyson

    Let the environmentalists and animal-rights people explain it all away.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Appreciate the quote and comments Joseph. I love nature but I also love to eat all kinds of meat. What a conundrum!

      Reply
  4. Margaret Coats

    The major challenge in writing a poem like this is how to end it effectively. Norma, your ending is an exceptional success! The shorter stanza of rhyming couplets, and the brief final line, do the job with a bang. You (who had expressed some human sympathy for the prey along the way) do not need to take up a high-powered rifle!

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you for your comments Margaret. It actually took a couple of years before I figured out a suitable final stanza that satisfied me.

      Reply
  5. Paul Freeman

    They should use this poem in biology books to teach the food chain – herbivore, predator, predator, top predator.

    Bravo, Norma – you’ve made learning fun, which is no mean feat.

    Reply
  6. Yael

    Nice title, great poem.
    It flows like music and tells a realistic story complete with tragedy, triumph and suspense.
    I love it!

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you for your comments Yael. It took a while to come up with the title but I think it works well.

      Reply
  7. David Watt

    Thank you Norma for a most entertaining poem. The natural world really does consist of just two types of animal: the quick, and the dead.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you David… ‘the quick and the dead’, made me laugh.

      Reply
  8. Norma Pain

    Appreciate the quote and comments Joseph. I love nature but I also love to eat all kinds of meat. What a conundrum!

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      I seem to be having some technical issues with my replies. Am I going mad!!

      Reply
  9. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    A much needed blast of laughter in an increasingly miserable world! Wonderful stuff! Thank you, Norma.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you for your comments Susan. I really enjoy writing to uplift people’s spirits if I can, and your comments and everyone else’s have lifted mine.

      Reply
  10. C.B. Anderson

    Without Pain we would know so much less about ourselves.

    Reply

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