POETRY

 

      Little Sun Worshipper 
      by Fran Pennock Shaw

      Little sun worshipper
      following the light,
      bidden by its rays,
      basking in its arms;
      she purrs an invitation
      to share its warm embrace.   

Fran Pennock Shaw is author of a this delightful  book of original poems and punchlines about the cute things cats do. The palm-sized gift book also contains  70 whimsical  photos of kittens by Italian photographer Silvia Lualdi.

Shaw's humorous and affectionate insights describe the "adorable, un-ignorable cat."   A kitten outside a telephone booth asks: "Can you hear me, meow?"  A golden kittten in reflected sunlight inspired the poem, Little Sun Worshipper (at left).

Shaw, a Lancaster Newspapers correspondent and former reporter, is a freelance magazine writer on companion animal topics. She contributed to Cats Do It Better Than People, an anthology by Adams Media, and to Symptom Solver For Dogs and Cats, a pet health book published by Rodale Press.

Shaw has won numerous writing awards from the international Cat Writers' Association Inc. (CWA) and the Dog Writers' Association of America, and is a past president and treasurer of CWA.

 

Lauren Merryfield brings her love of cats to light in haiku, bringing both tears and laughter as well as comments like, "Oh! I understand!" She describes many touching situations, including how a totally blind woman honors her cats. 182 pages; available from Amazon or from the author at www.catliness.com.

Lauren's website is designed for cat loving business people, who will find interesting cat information and pet business opportunities there. Winner of a Golden Whiskers web award, it is linked to www.meowwho.com, an all-inclusive cat-related directory with 3625 listings.

      kitty in the tub
      Jaspur is chasing his tail
      and then he unwinds 

      I know you apart
      By the diff'rent ways you play
      And by your meows

      Fur against my neck
      I've now been visited by
      His pluminous tail!

Sylvia Adams is an Ottawa novelist and poet whose novel, This Weather of Hangmen, is based on a true crime story. Her award-winning poetry includes Mondrian's Elephant, and Sleeping on the Moon, which was a runner-up for the Scott-Lampman Award in  2007. An instructor/facilitator for two Ottawa poetry groups, she edits their chapbook anthologies and in January-February 2007 taught a poetry workshop in Chile.  http://sylviaadams.ca/  

Mike Heenan's Selected Poetry: Urban Affairs & Country Matters (North Grenville News Press), ranges though the poet's "significant reactions to reality" from the quiet hamlet of MacLaren's Landing on the Ottawa River to the bustle of "Criminal Corners" in the heart of Bytown/Ottawa and the early days of the Rideau Canal.  His first volume, Landing Sites, a collection of satirical poems and editorials from The Carp Valley Press, was published by Bisson in 1979. Copies of his new "Selected"  ($10.00) are available from the author (613-230-4640).

Gillian Foss is an award-winning poet whose work has been published in the Alberta Poetry Yearbook and several anthologies, including those from Ottawa's Field Stone Poets. Her chapbook, Windows in Time, contains poems of various lengths and in unusual forms (ghazal, sestina), all with images of water. The title poem, A Window in Time, uses repetition to great effect, evoking memories as mirrors. Gill is currently working on a full-length poetry manuscript. Meanwhile, Windows in Time is available privately from her for $10 (which includes postage). (gillfoss @ magma.ca)

A selection from Brick Books:  (www.brickbooks.ca)