haiku. cat sitting on computer

he's an anxious cat
rows of letters fill the screen
but he can't read them





I remember reading about a computer programme that could tell you if your cat had walked across your keyboard in your absence, and repair the damage it had done. All I had to do this time was delete many pages of random letters, and brush away lots of fur.

A cat on my shoulder.

Here is Jack in his favourite place when I am working in my shed. I sit with him on my shoulders for hours, and when I do move around he steadies himself with his claws. He purrs into my ear, and is very warm. So much better than a parrot.

Love on a muddy path

Here is a heart shape puddle on the bridlepath.

I took the photo from the saddle. The shadow across the bottom of the photo is Thomas standing while I made the image. I pointed out the heart to him, but he wasn't impressed.

Handprint horse

I saw my floury handprint on the apron hanging on the kitchen door.

It's a white horse, with a proud neck and long  face, trotting along with a wisp of tail blowing behind him.

In the dim light it looks like an image from a cave.

A Very Wise Horse

Here is Thomas, looking very wise.

He is enjoying living in a barn, kept warm by two thick rugs.

He's looking across to the snow covered Black Mountains.

All is Safely Gathered In - Harvest Time

Now the wheat has been harvested, I can ride in the stubble fields.

The sun is shining and Thomas and I are alone in a gold and green field.

My favourite pictures are those with Thomas's head in the foreground, as I capture the view we can both see.

The view from a horse's back is the best in the world.

Brunnhilde and the Perfect Pony

Here is Brunnhilde, surrounded by adverts from the Horse and Hound magazine. Everyone looking for a horse has a clear  and possibly unrealistic idea of what they want, but a horse not afraid of fire?

I think the horse threw her off into the flames, and then galloped away to find a more sensible owner. 

Household Guardians 2

My two cats have very different roles to play in my working life. One likes to watch over the computer, and keeps my poetry warm by sleeping on it as I try to type it out. He wakes occasionally and edits the verses by walking across the keyboard. He is an essential part of the creative process.

The other cat doesn't like modern technology and is outside in the shed, looking after the letterpress machine and art materials.

Sleeping goats

Two goats sleeping comfortably together at the Royal Welsh Show.

It is the best way to pass a very hot summer afternoon.

Sensible goats.

And a pig with excellently placed ears for
covering the eyes.

springtime feline haiku

at last spring is here -
from bright unfurling petals
a cat emerges

left handed knitting

I have finally mastered the basic knitting stitches, by putting a page of instructions in front of me, and pretending I was a mirror.

My first piece of knitting is a finger puppet portrait of my horse.

Household Guardians 2

This is the more literary of the two cats. Or perhaps culinary, as this is a shelf of cookery books. He's been sleeping here for about two weeks now, and regularly knocks some of the books onto the floor as he jumps down. I pick up the book on top of the scattered pile on the floor and cook supper from it. Cooking a meal from '1001 Chocolate Treats' was a bit of a challenge!

Household Guardians 1

Here is Amon Ra, sitting by my computer. He was a Christmas reindeer soft toy, but I took off his festive bow tie and attached a Suffolk Puff (fabric constructed shape) to his antlers. Now I have an Ancient Egyptian guardian for the computer.

I am thinking of moving him however, as the cat keeps batting him with his paws, and knocking him onto the floor, and I don't think it shows the proper respect.

lending a helping paw

I am trying to write a proposal in support of a Jerwood Opera Writing Fellowship, and suffering  doubts and uncertainties and with that why-I-am-doing-this feeling that accompanies all new plans and dreams.

The cats, unusually, have both come to join me. They don't spend much time together but have obviously decided this is serious, and I need both of them to help. What am I to read into Jack sitting with his back to the proposal however, and Wesley sitting on it having an intimate wash?!

our shadow stood still

The whole world was shaking as the huge gale swept down
the valley. The only thing it couldn't move was our shadow, lying quietly on the sand.

sleeping on the radiator

a warm metal bed,
it's good, if you can relax,
and if you're furry

Riding in the Summer.

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a bonfire sent smoke over the hedge

and across the grass path

sunshine made stripes

through branches and leaves

we were shadows

riding in and out of the light

held in the present moment by

voices and hoofbeats

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On seeing my cat sitting in a leafless tree

Jack! have you noticed

the leaves have all blown away?

you are not concealed!

A Haiku For My Cat

perfectly balanced

he sleeps across my shoulders

tail wrapped round my neck

Not Far from the Wolf

Cerberus
A huge quantity
of dribble on the floor at
feeding time - down boys!

Anubis
He protects the Dead,
But they're quite self-sufficient,
It's not a hard job.



The photo is Scrumpy, the first dog I got to know well. He lived at the stable yard, stole food, and bit people. He's biting angels now.