Victoria Spring.
Blossom and daffodils bloom.
While snow blankets East.
David Garlick
Penny Cat
Penny is a cat with an attitude. She is not a “pussycat.”
She is her own cat, superior, as only real aristocats can be.
“Do not fool with me I have claws. I can use them.”
Her ears peaked over her basket, listening to all that was going on.
I went into the bathroom to shower. She decided to follow,
scratching on the door. I let her in, she watched me.
As I showered she peeked through the glass panels and then
jumped to a higher level, for a better view, perhaps?
I left the shower, towel in hand. She jumped down onto the seat
sitting there watching, anticipating her next move, her reward.
I bent down to pet her. She rose on her hind legs
and grasped my head between her front paws.
Ten claws firmly in my scalp, ow!
Then she buried her nose in my hair and licked as if cleaning me.
I stayed very still; she likes the smell of shampoo it seems.
After a while she let me go, I stood up, relieved to be in one piece.
Standing there naked as a babe, drying my back
she looked me up and down; intrigued perhaps?
Then swiped something that swung temptingly into her range.
She struck out in a flash of half bared claws; whacking
me painfully where it hurts, then smiled wickedly.
Leaving me catatonic.
David Garlick, Sidney, February, 2005
Our Back Garden
Our home is on the edge of a huge continent.
We live among the embroidery of her outskirts.
This land of mountains, valleys, rivers, deltas,
beaches, cliffs, bays, reefs, currents
and beautiful treed islands, beckons you.
It is a paradise, a splendid living eco system,
a play ground for boaters, a place of wonder for
a Biologist, a field of amazement for visitors.
Vancouver Island welcomes the gentle seeker.
With it all, the added joy of wild animals who
live and flourish in wild places as well as in
the gardens and orchards of towns and villages.
Our own delight the deer and otters, the raccoons
and squirrels. The shy cougars and grizzlies,
there but hidden from sight in the wilderness.
Beware the Tenderfoot, this is not as zoo!
A beach of crushed shells; an ancient place of
welcoming. Oysters, clams, crab rockfish or salmon,
take your pick and quench your hunger, joy!
The sun beats down and the rocks are warm.
The brave venture into the cool limpid water, bliss.
Your face mask a living TV set.
These waters replete with creatures to meet,
to learn about, to wonder at, to leave alone.
Store the moment in your memory.
How bright that memory will remain.
David Garlick, British Columbia, May, 2009
Our Jungle
We live in a temperate Jungle, if there is such a thing.
We live on the edge of a huge continent.
We live among the embroidery of these outskirts.
We live in a very beautiful place,
that is Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Part of the delight of being here,
are the animals with whom we share this jungle.
They are many and varied, some we never see
but they are there and we read their marks,
sigh at their choice of our treasured plants and hear
their calls, howls, screeches, twittering, barks,
and raucous behavior through the seasons.
We love them all, they belong to no one,
they are the original inhabitants.
Perhaps we belong to them?
In the huge forest that covers most of the island
there is abundance of wild life.
Some common some rare and some endangered.
Some are large but most are small.
David Garlick