Heidegger's Cat
Finn Brooke
Heidegger’s cat was always in one of two states,
as he liked to split his time fairly evenly,
either stretched out on the hot, flat flagstones
just outside the front door of his small chalet,
or ranging the hidden ways of the Black Forest,
and while he had reservations
about the philosophies of his human,
he felt on the whole very fortunate,
at peace with being passed over by fame.
Although he enjoyed considering paradoxes
and occasionally–fleetingly–thought
it might be nice to be spoken about
by physicists and university students
at lectures, seminars, and cocktail parties,
he shuddered at the idea
of being locked in a box for eternity,
unable to answer the call of the woods,
or feel the soft crush of fern underfoot.
as he liked to split his time fairly evenly,
either stretched out on the hot, flat flagstones
just outside the front door of his small chalet,
or ranging the hidden ways of the Black Forest,
and while he had reservations
about the philosophies of his human,
he felt on the whole very fortunate,
at peace with being passed over by fame.
Although he enjoyed considering paradoxes
and occasionally–fleetingly–thought
it might be nice to be spoken about
by physicists and university students
at lectures, seminars, and cocktail parties,
he shuddered at the idea
of being locked in a box for eternity,
unable to answer the call of the woods,
or feel the soft crush of fern underfoot.
Finn Brooke is a New Zealand poet whose work has been published in Investigate, Honeyguide Literary Magazine, Quadrant and Blue Unicorn. He owes his love of great poetry to those who have gone before and to the enduring myths and legends of all cultures that speak to our shared human experience.