Benjifer Bones – #FFFocus

“Benjifer Bones” the old cat intones,
“shall never be one of those usual drones”

Ze looks like a cat, from zir whiskers to feet;
hairy, with twitches, this feline’s complete
most completely complete (in case you must know)
you may feel free to ask –
but ze likely won’t show

Benjifer Bones was once someone else, too
with fur the wrong shade ze just didn’t know who
caterwauling in silence at last would not do
so Benjifer yowled zir truth into the blue

I am ME! Don’t you see it? Have you really not known?
From here I live only one truth – ’tis my own.
I may look like a Tom, but inside – I’m a queen
And I’m braced for you whether you’re nice or you’re mean.

Strode into the world with some confident purrs
accepting the accolades, even the slurs
Ze likes the mysterious
-erious
-ness
putting into the world only more
never less

Ze might make you uneasy, this curious cat
But that is on You,
not on Zir,

and That’s That.

(with thanks, respect and apologies to T.S. Eliot)

---

This week, Frank’s challenge was: “Ben is one of Old Possum’s practical cats. Write his poem. (You must give yourself a cat name) The style of the work should be in the style of the other T.S. Eliot poems.

(I WILL note that in spite of the directions, this poem took me in a non-autobiographical direction. “Benjifer” is not specifically me. I only have so much control over the muse)

---

About #FFFocus:

Frank Chloupek holds a PhD in Physics from The Ohio State University. We have been friends since our undergraduate days at Michigan State University over 30 years ago.

Frank hates poetry

(except for any and all Limericks about a certain boy from Nantucket).

He provides challenges, topics, themes, rules to guide whatever gets put together on Fridays.

---

If you would like to join the weekly challenge, feel free! Just reference “Frank’s Friday Focus” (#FFFocus) on your own page, provide a pingback (paste the URL link someplace in your post) to this page, and copy/paste the link to your entry into the comment section below.

Thanks, and have fun!