{"id":22608,"date":"2013-10-01T13:03:43","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T00:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=22608"},"modified":"2013-10-01T13:03:37","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T00:03:37","slug":"tuesday-poem-old-pet-by-barbara-strang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2013\/10\/01\/tuesday-poem-old-pet-by-barbara-strang\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday Poem: “Old Pet” by Barbara Strang"},"content":{"rendered":"

Old Pet<\/h3>\n

Molly is a useless pet,
\nnervous, unfriendly.
\nShe will not sit on my knee.<\/p>\n

Molly is not sleek any more
\nshe is middle-aged
\nand shows it.<\/p>\n

She is greedy and fussy,
\nshe won\u2019t eat
\nbargain meat.<\/p>\n

Sometimes she rubs
\nagainst my leg,
\npurrs after dinner.<\/p>\n

She is drawn round the face,
\nher belly sags
\nfrom kittens she bore \u2013<\/p>\n

she is past all that,
\nshe is past her best,
\nI know it.<\/p>\n

She lies all day in the garden,
\nher rusty coat blends with the weeds,
\nI hardly notice her.<\/p>\n

She and I
\nin the large backyard \u2013
\nand only me to miss her.
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Barbara Strang<\/p>\n

Published in The Corrosion Zone<\/em><\/strong>, HeadworX, 2011<\/p>\n

Reproduced with permission.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

About The Poem:<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>I shall return to the poems themed around war, but I felt it was time for a break — but there is a connection since Barbara Strang’s poem For a Song<\/em><\/a> was one of the first I featured in the war poetry series. <\/em><\/p>\n

Old Pet<\/em> is drawn from the same collection, The Corrosion Zone<\/strong>, and has always been one of my favourites. At one level it is straightforward — but that fabulous final line punches home every time. For me, this poem captures life’s transience and pathos, especially around ageing, but its power comes from its restraint — the recitation of facts about “Molly”, spare and precise, and then that final coupling of “she and I”, before the final line delivers the emotional weight of the poem.<\/p>\n

I am very pleased that Barbara has allowed me to share it with you today.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

About The Poet:<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Barbara was born in Invercargill. She is a published and award-winning poet and haikuist. She has had two well-received collections of her poetry published. The first, Duck Weather<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(Poets Group) appeared in 2005, and The Corrosion Zone<\/em><\/strong> (HeadworX) in 2011. She is the leader of Airing Cupboard Women Poets and editor for Sudden Valley Press. She edited the NZ Poetry Society\u2019s 2009 and 2010 anthologies. The various awards she has won include the Aoraki Festival Contest, 1998, the NZ Poetry Society\u2019s International Haiku Competition, 1997 and 2003, and the Takahe Cultural Studies Competition 2002. Barbara has an MA in Creative Writing from Victoria University, and she lives at McCormacks Bay, Christchurch, New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub<\/strong> and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets from around the world, click here<\/strong><\/a> or on the Quill<\/strong> icon <\/strong>in the sidebar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Old Pet Molly is a useless pet, nervous, unfriendly. She will not sit on my knee. Molly is not sleek any more she is middle-aged and shows it. She is greedy and fussy, she won\u2019t eat bargain meat. Sometimes she rubs against my leg, purrs after dinner. She is drawn round the face, her belly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22608"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22631,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22608\/revisions\/22631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}