in tribute to stevie smith

Kathy Riordan

Location: Florida, United States
Birthday: April 27

Bio: One woman's view of life and the universe. Follow @katriord on Twitter.

MY RECENT POSTS

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Kathy Riordan's Links

What I Can't Write About: Floating; The Strong One; The Best News Yet; In My Mother's Arms; To a Younger Sister; Do Not Disturb; Taking the Red-Eye; Breath of Life; Tears; do not resuscitate; Vigil; What I Can't Write About
Poetry, if you like that sort of thing:: The Sound of Trees; At the Public House; Dear Girl; it wasn't long, the time that was; Base Camp in Muddy Bottom; in tribute to stevie smith; After the Having, Having Had; Silver; There Is No Insurance for This; Pretty Maids All In a Row; I Thought I'd Write a Little Villanelle; At the Beguinage (for Megan); Daddy Did You Dream Me Up
Christmas: Silver; Signs and Wonders, and a Christmas Miracle; The Christmas Baby; The Ecumenical, Geographical, All-Inclusive Christmas Feast; Making a List, Checking it Twice; Santa Dog; The Dreaded Holiday Letter; When Santa Was My Grandpa; A Naked Christmas; E-Readers and iPhones and Coffee, Oh My! Holiday 2009 Guide; Favorite Homemade Family Gifts for Christmas
New to Open Salon?: Your Friends on Open Salon; Best Posts of Open Salon 2009; Introduction to Some Great Reads on Open Salon
Where I've been, where I'm going:: Paris; Under a New Mexico Sky; Casting the Movie of My Life; Muffin; Sagebrush and Funeral Potatoes; Saying Goodbye to Summer at the Cottage
Twitter from the Inside:: Twitter Is What You Make It: Who to Follow, and Why
Posts on World War II:: Honoring My Soldiers, My Heroes on Veterans Day; Letter from an American World War II Soldier to His Parents; On the 65th Anniversary of Operation Market Garden; Tom Hanks to Bring "Beyond All Boundaries" to WWII Museum
Some of my work on Iran:: Index: all posts on Iran and Neda; "The Anonymous" Behind Neda Video Awarded Prestigious Polk; Iran Fabricates Interpol Involvement in Neda Investigation; Doctor Claims to Identify Neda's Killer; Doctor in Neda Video Arrives Safely in London; Not that Neda: How the Wrong Photo Became an Icon; Updates on Neda, Symbol of a Revolution; Her Name Was Neda
Some of my favorite posts:: When Mayo Clinic Speaks, I Listen; Incognito in Istanbul; Such a Death
I also write here:: Follow me on bloglovin; Follow me on Kindle; In My Life; Journeys

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JANUARY 14, 2010 8:26PM

Rate: 17 Flag

Stevie Smith, one of my favorite poets of the 20th century, penned some of the finest, clearest lines in the English language, including the unforgettable Not Waving But Drowning and This Englishwoman.

This poem was written in tribute to that grande dame of English wordsmithing. And a grey tabby.

as5838

i love my cat i love her so

i love her more than she will know

but if she pees upon the floor

then i will love her nevermore.

stevie_smith

stevie smith, 1902-1971

for mary margaret muffy-waifer

grey-tabby

Author tags:

wordsmithing, cats, this englishwoman is so refined, not waving but drowning, contemporary poets, stevie smith, poetry

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Comments

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sweet.
little kitty feet.

Foolish Monkey

January 14, 2010 08:34 PM

Kathy-What a beautiful kitty. That must be why her eyes are so gorgeous...for getting her out of trouble

julie Kiernan

January 14, 2010 08:39 PM

Cool. I am going off to find not waving but drowning

Dr. Spudman44

January 14, 2010 08:44 PM

lovely tribute, kathy. a favorite poet of mine was Karla Kuskin, who died last august. i posted a piece which included her obit from the nytimes. a poem she wrote that i loved was about cats, too:

When a cat is asleep
There is nothing asleep
That is quite so asleep
As a cat.
She has finished with darting,
Careening and leaping
Now even the soft air around her is sleeping.

(thanks for the links, too.)

femme forte aka candace

January 14, 2010 08:44 PM

If that kitten (in the photo) were not so young, I would know where Buddy had gotten to. Spittin image!

Cute limerick!

Chicken Màâàn

January 14, 2010 09:13 PM

"Man, too, hurries,
Eats, couples, buries,
He is an animal also
With a hey ho melancholy,
Away with it, let it go..."

I love Stevie Smith's work.

Chuck A. Stetson

January 14, 2010 09:19 PM

I love Stevie Smith, and m m m-w is lovely.

Ann Nichols

January 14, 2010 09:23 PM

Stevie Smith has long been one of my faves, too. And I love your kitty! So darn cute.

emma peel

January 14, 2010 09:30 PM

I read this mere hours after cleaning cat pee off the dining room floor. I still love the cat, but maybe a TINY bit less...

suzie

January 14, 2010 10:46 PM

Ahhhhh!!! Adorable!!!

Tinkerertink69

January 14, 2010 11:16 PM

I love stevie smith. Sigh. Good choice.

odetteroulette

January 15, 2010 12:15 AM

Oh, those eyes...

mypsyche

January 15, 2010 12:28 AM

I love her poetry...xox

Robin Sneed

January 15, 2010 02:34 AM

I'm a Stevie fan too.

http://open.salon.com/blog/con_chapman/2009/01/21/stevie_smith_not_drowning_but_prevailing

Con Chapman

January 15, 2010 08:10 AM

Another Stevie fan here. And a kitty fan too, especially those with mermaid eyes. I even like those with bad habits. And most cats have bad habits. Given that penchant, can you imagine what it would be like if cats could drink and smoke? The don't call it "catting around" for nothing.