Slice of Life: Cat Naps

When she was so small…

Writing Inspiration

Last fall we finally broke down and purchased a new, smaller couch. The problem started right off the bat: the cat didn’t think there was room for her so she has never jumped up and sat beside or between us, even when there’s only one of us. She does jump up onto Scott’s lap– because he rubs her ears. [Ick. I can’t].

But today, months later, she jumped up and purred, curled around and took her morning catnap. There’s something so sweet about that. And so, a little poem.

Writing Process

Sometimes the story is short. It’s just a moment of time to remember, and that is this today. I snapped the pic to remember this first catnap on the couch for our wild, silly cat. The top pic is when she was so tiny, taking a nap on the doily on the desk beside me after being completely wild and hyperactive for hours.

So the short poem popped into my head because it’s just a family poem– a moment poem. I only changed two words after writing it. If you read these two lines aloud, I think you’ll feel the rhythm– and the part that doesn’t fit:

There’s something special in a cat
Who just like that curls up for a nap.


Do you sense it — how “for a nap” doesn’t quite fit the rhythm?

Try to read the revised version aloud to “feel” the difference as you read:

There’s something special in a cat
Who just like that curls up to nap.

Two syllables change to one: “for a” becomes “to.”

And that’s the poem.

Larger version on Flickr teach.eagle Sheri42

Naps

There’s something special in a cat
Who just like that curls up to nap.

Sheri Edwards
042722 118.365.22
Poetry/Photography

Your Turn

Try starting a couplet — a two line poem — with “There’s something….”

Add your own adjective to replace “special” or use “special” and finish the line. The next line explains why. It can rhyme or not– but do try for the rhythm created by accented and unaccented syllables.

What moment did you remember?

2 Comments

on “Slice of Life: Cat Naps
2 Comments on “Slice of Life: Cat Naps
  1. It means to have a short nap during the day. It is not hard to understand where the expression comes from: in the early 1800s, people began using this term to describe short periods of sleep during the day that were similar to those cats have. Cats are notorious for sleeping up to 12 to 16 hours a day.

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