War and cats
There is a connection... I think
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In this issue
Silence, war, and Ilya Kaminsky’s “Deaf Republic”
Cats, specifically Kindle, the feline assistant to writer David Abrams
Two new resources for book clubs and writers
What to do if this letter looks cut off in your email? Just click HERE right now and sit back and enjoy this morning’s read
Where to start when nothing quite goes together?
When I sat down to write to you today, the topics calling to me jumbled into a mess of dissonant parts. I’ve been parsing through the material searching for some way to connect Ilya Kaminsky’s devastating yet triumphant collection of poems Deaf Republic with some words about cats, one in particular, who has been comfort, muse, and source of wonder for writer David Abrams.
I’m doing this while reliving the recent visit with my son, a joyful experience that has left me happy, confused, exhilarated, and mildly exhausted. It’s not too different from the sensation I used to have to have when the roller coaster at Paragon Park in Nantasket Beach, MA shuddered to a stop and everything around me seemed altered. It took a while before I could fit back into the world again.
I felt this way after reading Deaf Republic for the first time, for entirely different reasons. The story, told in poems/episodes, begins in an unnamed village at a time of political unrest in an occupied territory. A young deaf boy is killed by a soldier breaking up a protest; in response, all the occupants of the town become deaf. Dissent continues, however, in sign language which is illustrated throughout the pages of the book but when resistance exacts too high a price, many villagers turn on the leader, the puppeteer, Momma Galya. The story is given to us by Alfonso, the husband of a newly-married couple expecting their first child in language so direct and beautiful that it slices me to the bone. As I read, I realize all over again that silence itself is not a quiet thing and that it is very different from turning away from what we don’t want to hear.
I will not be the only one inspired to share this collection by Kaminsky, who is Ukrainian, during these early days of National Poetry Month. We are asked to read it as the news blares the war from our screens. We are asked to listen in silence for all there is to hear beneath the noise. For me, sitting down with the book itself is the best way to experience it but you can also sample it at The New Yorker and you can hear the poem “A Soldier Fires At Us” read by Amanda Holmes here or by clicking on the image below:
Resources for Readers & Writers
Here are a couple of recent additions to our growing list of resources for readers and for writers. Click on the links below to check out all the resources and please suggest any that you have found valuable.
Resources for Readers and Book Clubs
I Love Libraries has developed a page of resources and advice for those who are looking to join, start, or improve a book club. This page offers links that cover everything from facilitation to book lists that are continually updated.
Resources for Writers and Writers’ Groups
MasterClass: Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing: 6 video lectures with downloads. Of particular value: the case studies, and discussions of structure and point of view. Requires a subscription to MasterClass but if shared with a friend this can be affordable and there is a wide range of classes to take over the course of a year.
And now…cats, specifically, Kindle
The Writer’s Cat: Kindle (David Abrams)
One of the first things to know about David Abrams is that he is one of the best writers you’ll ever spend time with. He finds the human in inhuman situations and turns it into a story. He can make you laugh. He can make you cry. He can make you think. His novel Fobbit has been called “fast, razor sharp, and seven kinds of hilarious. It deserves a place alongside Slaughterhouse Five and Catch-22 as one of our great comic novels about the absurdity of war."
About Brave Deeds, Ben Fountain says this:
“In one very full, very messed up and hair-raising day, Brave Deeds delivers everything we could ever ask for in a novel, no less than birth, death, and all points in between. David Abrams has written a flat-out brilliant book of the Iraq War, one that reads like a compact version of the Odyssey or Going After Cacciato. ―Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
For years David has championed writers and readers through his blog The Quivering Pen (check out the archives here) and even now, while working his day job, writing his next book, providing editing services to other writers, and caring for those he loves, he continues to read voraciously. He both reads and writes with the assistance of Kindle, a cat who entered his life with drama and has kept things exciting ever since.
If you go on David’s Instagram feed you will see Kindle in various poses: on a lap, at the foot of a tree, in a backpack for goodness’ sake where he nestles while David hikes. I’ve never seen a cat do this. I suspect that this relationship is one of those that came along at the right moment for Kindle and for David even though the beginning was hardly the stuff of romance. For more, read this latest installment in our periodic series, “The Writer’s Dog (or Cat)”
You can find David and Kindle at on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
And now..
Meet Kindle AKA: Kindle-abra, Kindle-Buddy and, in the language of Felinus, plain old “Mrrf.”
Known for… “Being Strong, Being Brave, Being Smart.” That’s my mantra. There’s a story behind it. See, there was this tree. And a squirrel. And—well, I overshot. My adrenaline overtook my good sense and before I knew it, I was fifty feet in the air, swaying in the top branches of a pine tree in a high wind—like a sailor in a crow’s nest. Oh my paws, the birds! As my Writer put it on his Facebook page that day:
“The crows kept up their attack like a roving band of hoodlums in black leather carrying switchblade beaks. They arrived in a blizzard of wingflaps, their calls like one harsh note pounded on the piano by a manic toddler, over and over and over: “Haw, haw, haaw! Haw, haw, haaw!” Every now and then, a little Iago of a magpie would swoop in from a neighboring tree to offer conspiratorial advice to his fellow birds…. My wife Jean and I kept calling encouragement to Kindle, our thin voices floating up above the noise of the gathering wind and the harassing birds: “You can do it! You are strong! You are brave! You are smart!”
Eventually, I saw a path down the tree. It had a couple of terrifying gaps between branches, but it was possible. It took bravery and strength, but I came down that tree like nobody’s business.
I’ve chanted my little mantra, “You are strong, you are brave, you are smart,” many times since then, when I find myself having one of those “long tail, room full of rocking chairs” type of panic attacks.
Try it yourself. See if it doesn’t make you feel a little better about your inner cat.
Expert at... Unlocking doors and leading my people to freedom outside. Look, it’s simple, really. Once you learn the basics of handle operations and thumb-latch maneuvering, you just hook a couple of claws into the edge and pull it toward you. Easy as squirrel pie. As they follow me out into the Great Outdoors, my brothers Ash and Ember bow and call me “Houdini” and/or “Moses,” depending on how long we’ve been cooped up inside.
What I live for… TREATS. I can be five rooms away with the TV at ear-folding volume and the washing machine slosh-churning, and I can hear the kibble rattle in the Treats jar. I also live for squirrels, chickadees, and finches. Chasing them, I mean—not eating them. Oh, and grass. I love grass. Eating grass, that is.
How I met my writer… Our eyes met across a crowded room and we— No, actually it was a different kind of love story, involving near-death, surgery, and Christmas lights. To be honest, my Writer wasn’t in love with me at first. You see, there were already three cats at home and He was very reluctant to get another one from the animal shelter, despite all the sweet pleadings coming from Her. As He Himself writes:
“I sighed and willed myself not to give a second glance at the kitten’s face on Facebook. We do NOT need another cat. I steeled myself and tried to harden my heart. “I don’t know …”
“Please?” my wife begged. “I mean, just look at those eyes.”
I flicked a glance down to the computer screen, and then just as quickly looked away. We do NOT —
Okay, those eyes were pretty adorable. They were a rich gold color and were rimmed with black, like thick eyeliner on a male rock star from the 1970s or 80s. I was looking at the kitten version of Ziggy Stardust.
“OK,” I said. “But only for a look, and nothing else.”
The first pieces of my heart were already starting to crumble.”
You can read the full story here (warning: it’ll probably make you cry):
How it’s been going so far…. Pretty good. I can’t complain. And when things look like they’re not going to go my way, I go all Ziggy Stardust on my Writer, complete with head-tilt and a soft “mrrr?”
Something you should know about my writer… He likes to invent conversations between the two of us, with a running, back-and-forth dialogue that’s a tad embarrassing for the both of us. But I sit there and take it all in, tossing him a reassuring slow-blink every now and then. Which only makes him smile, lean closer, and say, “Aww, that’s nice. I love you, too.”
Meet (Kindle’s) Writer: David Abrams
Known for… Writing two novels about the Iraq War, Fobbit (which has been compared to Catch-22) and Brave Deeds (which is sort of like a road trip movie with a funeral at the end, or so he tells me). He also has a cool noir mystery story set in Butte, Montana in the anthology Montana Noir.
My Writer also edits. For the past several years, he has been working freelance as a “manuscript consultant” for a place called Grub Street. He fixes their grammar and he gives them advice on how to make their stories sound better and be streamlined. Like freshly-licked fur, I guess is what it all looks like in the end. To find out more click on this Grub Street link or email him at david.abrams@gmail.com.
How I help David … During Zoom business calls with Other Humans, I do what I can to keep things lively by strutting in front of my Writer when He’s on camera, lashing my tail across that divoted space between His nose and upper lip. Voila! Tail Mustache. Well, I think it’s hilarious.
Other than that, I’m no help at all, walking indiscriminately across the keyboard at random, making him have to retype words like “indiscriminately” four times over just to get it right.
What David does when he is not with me … He has what he calls a “day job” with the federal government, but since COVID hit, he’s been teleworking from home….which can only mean one thing: MORE LAP TIME! And Tail Mustaches. When he gets up from his desk (and rudely does away with the lap), he likes to go cook weird-smelling meals, take walks around the neighborhood with Her, watch TV, and read. Oh my paws, does he like to READ! But hey, that usually leads to more Lap Time.
Cats in Literature, Cats in War
A quick look at literary cats and warrior cats over the years and at least one movie in which a man changed they way cats were perceived:
Literary Cats
Warrior Cats
The Cats of Louis Wain
The Electric Life of Louis Wain
Got a poem you love? Or a cat story? Share them here or just reply to this email. I love to hear from you.
Most of the books listed here are available at the Spark Community Recommendations Page at bookshop.org where purchases support local bookstores and, if we generate enough of a commission, we can use it to support literacy programs chosen by the community.
Ciao for now.
Gratefully,
Betsy
P.S. And now, your moment of Zen…Blue Study
R.L. Maizes, author of the novel, Other People’s Pets and We Love You Anderson Cooper, offered this moment of Zen not long ago on her Instagram feed and kindly allowed me to use it here. When the world outside seems a little large, maybe retreating into a blue onion is just the ticket.
Calling for Your Contribution to “Moment of Zen”
What is YOUR moment of Zen? Send me your photos, a video, a drawing, a song, a poem, or anything with a visual that moved you, thrilled you, calmed you. Or just cracked you up. This feature is wide open for your own personal interpretation.
Come on, go through your photos, your memories or just keep your eyes and ears to the ground and then share. Send your photos/links, etc. to me by replying to this email or simply by sending to: elizabethmarro@substack.com. The main guidelines are probably already obvious: don’t hurt anyone -- don’t send anything that violates the privacy of someone you love or even someone you hate, don’t send anything divisive, or aimed at disparaging others. Our Zen moments are to help us connect, to bond, to learn, to wonder, to share -- to escape the world for a little bit and return refreshed.
I can’t wait to see what you send!
During his recent visit, my son startled me with this: “I am deeply suspicious of a person who doesn’t like cats.”
I’m not all that surprised – his household has always included four-leggeds. As I write, the residents of his Colorado farm include three cats, five donkeys, an elderly pit bull who was born deaf, and the ghost of Hoover, his bassett and companion for XX years.
Loving the cat questionaire and Cat Literature genre that you have totally introduced me too. My zen is a little lake walk near my house - I will send you a pic. It's not quite having the Pacific Ocean in your backyard, but it's a little bit of peace and tranquility. Have a lovely weekend.