Danielle

__I Am. . . //a Dreamer// __

I am the mellow whistle of the wind space in spring There's a silent room where I'm sitting, waiting space //attempting// to discover Everything. space I'm the stars' agent undercover Ain't it frightening?

And yet I'm empty-headed and soft-hearted, space with even, relaxed breaths, Trying to understand the reason for the dearly departed, space <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;"> imagining what's after their deaths. <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">I am the slippery, angering snow in June <span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">space <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;"> after months of shoveling. <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">As we as the pillow torn to let feathers fly in that sleepover <span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">space <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">in the twinkling darkness after noon. <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">Ain't it puzzling?

<span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">Ideas plucked like a clover only to be refilled and sewn <span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">space <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;"> by a frustrated mother. <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">I am the bug atop the water, the sun on my limbs easily shown, <span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">space <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;"> and I have the option to scratch the water's surface, <span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">spacespace <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;"> like the fish, go lower. <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">Instead I'll stay happy in the sun and never stumble in place; <span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">space <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;"> so, day after day I'll recline and twiddle, solving <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">The mysteries of the world, with a smile, without play-- <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">Ain't it something?

<span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">Before long I toss over and laugh, <span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">space <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;"> as calm but pleased with my loopy, sometimes thoughtful <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">Or cute vision as a peaceful infant giraffe. <span style="color: #ca445b; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">Ain't it all comforting?

<span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">spacespace __<span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">RagaMuffin Silent Talk __ <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;"> <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Big boned yet cherubic without an overbearing disposition-- <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">A RagaMuffin will always be loyal. <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Almond eyes, ice cream scoop nose, and a snubbed muzzle, <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Soaking up attention; ready to help.

<span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Never swinging off curtains and <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Loving quality time with the family.

<span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Low maintenance, luxurious. . . <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Three thousand possible colors for her large coat! <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Laid back cat-- <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Moderate energy. <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Fluffy, hefty, plush. . . <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">She'll blend in.

<span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">"I'm right here" --tapping your hip sweetly. <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">"I need your love." <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Your questions, her answers. Her advice. <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Always. A tight bond. Devotion. //Love.// <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">And to her devoted audience she will never fuss. <span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">With consideration: "Play with toys?"

__<span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Article Information: __ //<span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">"Love Muffins" by Elisa Jordan // //<span style="color: #ab6fce; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Cat Fancy April 2010 //

__<span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">A Cloud Through Unwashed Spectacles __

<span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A bag of ice clothed in silky white with sags, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A puff of cotton candy coated in chocolate syrup, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A pale, detached palm from its dear wrist sprinkled with dry blood, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A collapsed soldier sobbing beneath a dirty white flag, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Bits of crumbs in an elder's beard, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A two humped rock covered in clean, soft snow, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">And an inflated airbag splattered with passengers' gore.

<span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A knapsack made for running, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Or a blossoming deformed lung. <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A baker's hat with accidentally drizzled chocolate, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Even a lucid infant's spirit with eyes of coal. <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Cauliflower sprouts snapped to stemlessness, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A plastic bag filled with amber pebbles--picked, <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">And a terribly cooked loaf of bread with sesame seeds.

<span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Aspirin pills stocked with mints as tiny surprises: <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">My bunny Charlie with her stubby paws tucked beneath her <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">At 9 on February 16th, 2011, as she rests within the depths <span style="color: #006b6b; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Of her cage.

__<span style="color: #f34191; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%;">The Cupcake __

<span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I was once seen as a rare creature, <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">White and spunky with an odd sort of innocent charm attached to every feature. <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Now in dozens I stand bemused, <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Certainly, as time passes on, my charm has become forgotten and even abused. <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I have a tail of cotton and a compact face, <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With a sort of dignity I seem to happily hop and playfully prance around with a rare grace. <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">However, many have come to know <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">What a messy little thing I have become...on the soft surface and below. <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With my paws tucked beneath my chest, <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">No awkward appendages to be seen from this adorable and tempting pest!

<span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Indeed, how many people I will tempt <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">To retrieve a touch, a kiss, or a quick kidnap attempt. <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With a blanket covering up my bottom, <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I'll even purr in the warmth of the baking oven. <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I'm elegant in perky pastels, <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">And my number could reach the sky with the abundance of my sells! <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Holidays! //Holidays!// <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">With packs of this frosty and slippery snow I will be covered in a glaze. <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Behind prisons of glass I currently reside, <span style="color: #f26ca8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">A feeling of fun and cheeriness I persistently and sincerely promise to provide.

__A Bizarre Romance__

<span style="color: #006b6b; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">[My bunny Charlie and the cow stuffed animal used to torment her when she's looking bored.]

On the crown of my shack is almost always the perfect dwelling; it is perfectly spacious and snug enough to steal at least a wink of rest— But it is every day that //you// come, your unblinking and small self, and it is every day that your ability to move without stepping leaves me (for some reason) utterly impressed. My curiosity ensues so I decide to do a little sniffing, but you always begin to scrape my cheek with yours and irritatingly nuzzle my neck. After moments of your quiet—quite creepy—cuddling, with my anger and confusion suppressed, I manage to swipe you away, you dirty little pest. But you return. Your ungulate feet stomp or //flop// and make pitiful attempts to woo me, and my elongated ears turn down, my jaw shifts back and forth like a saw and I raise a single side of my mouth, uninviting, certainly not what you want: a friendly beck. My rage certainly can't grow anymore—my paws are the jaws of life, breaking you away from me with my furry clutches, and when that fails, my large chompers begin to sink into your flimsy ivory horns, because when all else fails, one deserves to at least dine. You don't twitch, or cry, or even screech—you take my anger without any emotion, which vexes me all the more, and I feel as if I can rip you into two sides of meat, you frustrating bovine. You have a stitched smile, a somber smile, and sorrowful blank and black eyes; I purr, a low inaudible purr, and peer around my cage, wishing to escape from this surreal animal at best. In my mind I heave a sigh, and try at your side to nudge, and you, creature, don't budge—no—nor do you struggle; I manage in one swoop to push you off my shack, and to the ground you fall with a thud. Your body is awkward and contorted, your back is a wishbone, and your expression is like a mime's. I force myself away with a narrow, neglectful grin, and decide to never again stare at this lifeless dud.

I cannot cry, dear, because each of my eyes is but a bead, And the fact that I'm filled with cotton doesn't particularly help that I can't move on my own—but I do plead, Since the first time I noticed your delicate eyelashes and orbs of jade, And I knew I had to show you how I felt—I had to do the deed! So I did. But you pushed me away without a single regret—and when I kissed you you didn't do anything back—and when I returned you used your incisors to bite and violently played— And! And! And! Now I am against the ground tilting like a ruined slinky, and while not showing it I'm shaking like a pepper shaker, Betrayal! Your nose is twitching and sniffing along with your freckled bunny babyish cheeks—I tell you, heart breaker— To turn away. You pounce at the side of your castle in thought, a usual tic, without any mutual concern, without even a peak. I feel empty like a floating feather, just not nearly as graceful, but despite my sorrow I know there's no reason to fret, I just need to prepare better for the mistress' next pet.

<span style="color: #666699; display: block; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 13pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">__Lying__

<span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Ain't this where'd I say “<span style="font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Walk like your heart's a battery, not battered or broke, and easily replaced”? <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">For whoever thinks this, I pray <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">'Cause lyin' is sin, like envy or wrath. Wait--do I hear?!—it's now embraced? <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I've never been quite //that// strong. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">When I stumble and fall, and no one is there—this 'ere's a secret—I //stay//. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I know it is wrong. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I'm no conveyor belt, my fears can't be fixed; I'm not going to stand and never sway. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">//I'm defeated!//

<span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I'm not brave. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I've never been. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Dignity ain't worth a hill of beans when you think you're at your grave. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I ain't a soldier who, at every turn through a fort's tunnel, is ready to defend. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I bask in my morals and I fight the pain off, I swear. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I'm not a coward or weak. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">But sometimes I fall or slip on grease. I can't rise—I'm filled with terrible fears. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I know. My ideas are twisted and contradictory, my answer quite oblique. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">//I'm human!//

<span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I have low self esteem and easily break down. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Sometimes I'm uncertain about where //I// fit. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">My kin from the north, dark haired and dark eyed strongly built people, chopped and knit. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">They weaved and worked in mills, travelin' down till they landed in this boppin' town. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">But my blood, it ain't lucid, and some of my ancestors drank to lunacy. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Irish, Italian, German, Cajun. Smokers, drinkers, musicians, fighters, farmers. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Some of 'em whole-hearted, never empty-headed, the spitting images of democracy. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Maybe some danced along the Winnipeg, nestled and safe within the fur of their parkas. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">//I'm confused yet!//

<span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">When I can't raise my sleepy head <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I contemplate their culture, lives, and own trials. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">If I told you that I was apart of one perfect, bold, wise race, that's a lie you'd be fed. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Their past unlocks and an unscathed land of thousands of stories makes me unable to fight a smile. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Tales of trials taste sweet in my baffled mind. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Their words of wisdom make me stand, instead. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I want to learn. Teach. Write. Hell, look into history—you'd find <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">The bravest leaders, with their hearts in the right, trembled while they led. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">//They could've sworn they were defeated.// <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">//Confused.// <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">//Undeniably human.//

<span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Instead, I'll declare: “<span style="font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Motivation comes in the form of extension cords.” <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">And: “I don't know who I'm meant to be. Nothing's laid out before me—it's not fair. <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">But, one word can't describe a person. //They// __lived__ so I could __tell__—that's more than most can afford.” <span style="color: #666699; font-family: Andalus,serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">//And I don't lie!//

__<span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">A Cabbage (An Extra, "Delightful" Poem) __

<span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">love <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">pinches the soul <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">&& leaves it freckled. <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">warm.

<span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">wrath <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">pricks the whole <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">&& makes it distorted. <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">cold.

<span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">with each <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">peeking of the sun <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">at dawn, <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">wispy winter winds <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">at night are inevitable. <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">pattern <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">tickles the cole <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">&& doesn't do a damn thing-- <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">it's a silly cabbage. <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">immune to the plague of <span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">the almighty laugh.

<span style="color: #3f9c44; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">kind of.