Monday, January 20, 2020

Vibration




Purr via Whiskey River.

PURRING
The internet says science is not sure
how cats purr, probably
a vibration of the whole larynx,
unlike what we do when we talk.

Less likely, a blood vessel
moving across the chest wall.

As a child I tried to make every cat I met
purr. That was one of the early miracles,
the stroking to perfection.

Here is something I have never heard:
a feline purrs in two conditions,
when deeply content and when
mortally wounded, to calm themselves,
readying for the death-opening.

The low frequency evidently helps
to strengthen bones and heal
damaged organs.

Say poetry is a human purr,
vessel mooring in the chest,
a closed-mouthed refuge, the feel
of a glide through dying.

One winter morning on a sunny chair,
inside this only body,
a far-off inboard motorboat
sings the empty room, urrrrrrrhhhh
urrrrrrrhhhhh
urrrrrrrhhhh
- Coleman Barks
Winter Sky

Thanks Crow.



3 comments:

gz said...

Thanks both of you

Catalyst said...

Matty (our rent-a-cat) purrs and meows at the same time when I'm about to give him some treats. It sounds like a vibrato song.

Zhoen said...

gz,
So welcome.

Cat,
Both our cats trill when treats are on offer. Eleanor with catnip, too.