Gr 10 English: 15.10.09: HOMEWORK POEMS

The Ad-dressing of Cats

From Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

by T. S. Eliot

You've read of several kinds of Cat,

And my opinion now is that

You should need no interpreterto understand their character.

You now have learned enough to see

That Cats are much like you and me

And other people whome we find

Possessed of various types of mind.

For some are sane and some are mad

And some are good and some are bad

And some are better, some are worse -

But all may be described in verse.

You've seen them both at work and games,

And learnt about their proper names,

Their habits and their habitat:

ButHow would you ad-dress a Cat?

So first, your memory

I'll jog,And say: A CAT IS NOT A DOG.

Now Dogs pretend they like to fight;

They often bark, more seldom bite;

But yet a Dog is, on the whole,

What you would call a simple soul.

Of course I'm not including Pekes,

And such fantastic canine freaks.

The usual Dog about the Town

Is much inclined to play the clown,

And far from showing too much pride

Is frequently undignified.

He's very easily taken in -

Just chuck him underneath the chin

Or slap his back or shake his paw,

And he will gambol and guffaw.

He's such an easy-going lout,

He'll answer any hail or shout.

Again I must remind you that

A Dog's a Dog - A CAT'S A CAT.

With Cats, some say, one rule is true:

Don't speak till you are spoken to.

Myself, I do not hold with that -

I say, you should ad-dress a Cat.

But always keep in mind that heResents familiarity.

I bow, and taking off my hat,

Ad-dress him in this form: O CAT!

But if he is the Cat next door,

Whom I have often met before

(He comes to see me in my flat)

I greet him with an OOPSA CAT!

I've heard them call him James Buz-James -

But we've not got so far as names.

Before a Cat will condescend

To treat you as a trusted friend,

Some little token of esteem

Is needed, like a dish of cream;

And you might now and then supply

Some caviare, or Strassburg Pie,

Some potted grouse, or salmon paste -

He's sure to have his personal taste.

(I know a Cat, who makes a habit

Of eating nothing else but rabbit,

And when he's finished, licks his paws

So's not to waste the onion sauce.)

A Cat's entitled to expect

These evidences of respect.

And so in time you reach your aim,

And finally call him by his NAME.

So this is this, and that is that:

And there's how you AD-DRESS A CAT.

POEM
Legacies
by Nikki Giovanni

her grandmother called her from the playground
“yes, ma’am”
“i want chu to learn how to make rolls” said the old
woman proudly
but the little girl didn’t want
to learn how because she knew
even if she couldn’t say it that
that would mean when the old one died she would be less
dependent on her spirit so
she said
“i don’t want to know how to make no rolls”
with her lips poked out
and the old woman wiped her hands on
her apron saying “lord
these children”
and neither of them ever
said what they meant
and i guess nobody ever does

A Poem on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
by Nikki Giovanni

Trees are never felled . . . in summer . . . Not when the fruit . . .
is yet to be borne . . . Never before the promise . . . is fulfilled . . .
Not when their cooling shade . . . has yet to comfort . . .
Yet there are those . . . unheeding of nature . . . indifferent to
ecology . . . ignorant of need . . . who . . . with ax and sharpened
saw . . . would . . . in boots . . . step forth damaging . . .
Not the tree . . . for it falls . . . But those who would . . . in
summer’s heat . . . or winter’s cold . . . contemplate . . . the
beauty . . .

CHOICES

by Nikki Giovanni

If i can't do what i want to do

then my job is to not do what i don't want to do
It's not the same thing but it's the best i can do
If i can't have what i want . . .

then my job is to want what i've got

and be satisfied that at least there is something more to want

Since i can't go where i need to go . . .

then i must . . . go where the signs point

though always understanding parallel movement isn't lateral

When i can't express what i really feel

i practice feeling what i can express and none of it is equal
I know but that's why mankind alone among the animals learns to cry