Lessons To The Cat (as Inspired By Sylvia Plath's Poetry)

• Hanna Turner, Grade 12
• Poetry
• 2022

The cat is an attentive student in your class,
she sits very still watching your hands dance through the air
as you explain, with importance, your lesson.

Oblivious to my gaze, you sit, tucked away in the corner,
an air of importance to your words as they drift from your
tiny mouth into the air.

Your words are a mystery, a rollercoaster of peaks and dips,
a constant stream of babble and a secret language understood
by noone but yourself and the cat.

In your explaining, I see myself, glimpses of me, in you;
your authoritative tone echoes my own and your energetic
gestures mirror mine, a reflection of myself.

Your voice rises in question, stopping for the first time,
to allow the cat to answer, she remains silent, and you, unbothered,
answer the question and continue your lesson.