Under the dark of sofas
O’er the twist and bend
of curtain rod
a brave white shadow
stalks the unknown.
Amidst tangles of unsuspecting feet
with ne’er a care for cooing ladies
or eager petting hands,
this journeyman, this traveller,
this Monkey,
this Cat,
seeks life and its meaning.
He’s mollycoddled and mussed
fussed over and discussed.
Because, he is no commoner
or alley cat, you see.
No ser,
The Archduke Of Union Park is he.
For lunch they serve him,
shiny apple and cinnamon pears
with poached egg and three hares.
But he is no glutton,
or gourmand you see.
No ser,
The Archduke Of Union Park is he.
She’s haughty and polite
observant of your slightest slight.
But ever the lady,
she’ll never let you know,
exactly why,
she hates you so.
Jax was once full of funnies
full of love and laughter.
Sparkling with wit
and bursting with song
he was so funny.
Oh so funny!
But Life is a cruel sort of jester
one who laughs with slit eyes.
And one day,
wearing a hat trimmed with
ominously tinkling bells
Life stole his lady love away.
Ever since,
Jax the Jester
got a bit funny.
Not that kind of funny,
But that kind of funny!
His jokes are dipped in darkness now.
People laugh,
but later,
Jax’s jokes stick with them,
in their heads
in their beds,
filling them with utter dread
as they toss and turn
sleepless and awake.
Because that kind of funny is contagious.
Madam Poocha
She doesn't talk much
but she always
has something to say.
Lady Nikko
From a dark alley
peeked the dark head
of she who would soon become,
The Knight of umm…Darkness.
With a golden eye, a sharpened claw,
and the gentle swipe of a very sure paw,
she will grab your eye,
your attention
and eventually feast
on the warm cockles of your heart.
Don’t blame her,
you gave your heart quite willingly.
Miso the cat
is fair and lovely.
But she doesn’t believe in fairness creams.
All that lightening, brightening, whitening,
she really finds,
quite frightening.
She prefers instead
to soak up the sun
run up a stair
and groom herself
here and there.
(And quite honestly,
everywhere).
Lord Norman Francis,
he worried a lot.
He worried so much
that sometimes,
he worried about worrying.
When a whispered prayer
comes through,
when a song of hope
comes true,
you start believing in believing.
And a cat named after
lunchtime dessert
seems quite normal.
And perfectly plausible.
Because you see,
this little Truffle
really is,
the sweetest thing there could be.
The belle of the ball
isn’t always the prettiest girl in the room.
She’s the meanest.
You’ll never know
if she’s laughing with you
or at you.
She drops her hanky
quite accidentally,
quite pointedly
where you can pick it up.
When you bring it to her,
stuttering, stammering
hoping to win her favour,
she enjoys your distress
and feigns ignorance.
But unexpectedly,
she saves you with a peck.
A peck so fleeting, so chaste
it could never be called kiss.
But you’re mollified,
somewhat.
And quite a bit in love.
And as you write her your 100th letter
drenched in perfume and saccharine,
she’s already bored of you.
The project is a collaborative effort with photographer Aishwarya Arumbakkam created for the website Soup.
