The Poem War

    For many mothcats, silence was golden.  It was a time for reflection and a time to relax.  It was a sign that the cares of the world could fall away.  Of course, most mothcats didn’t run the household that Babb did.  For the motherly mothcat, silence was an indicator that either something was wrong or that the young ones she looked after were to something and that was never good.  So when she suddenly realized that she’d heard nothing from any of the three young cats, she was instantly suspicious of what was going on. 

    Carefully, she crept through, wanting to catch the youngsters in the act.  Otherwise, they would try to find some way to explain it away and say it wasn’t really what she thought.  She came to Samphire’s room first and pressed an ear against the door, listening carefully.  She smiled at the sounds coming from the room and opened the door quietly to confirm what she was hearing. 

    There on the floor, stretched out on her back, Samphire was fast asleep.  Legs the centipede looked like he was asleep too, sprawled over Samphire’s chest.  Each snoring breath Samphire took made his antennae flutter but he seemed too deeply asleep to even notice.  The two must have worn each other out in some game of theirs, Babb decided, closing the door once more. 

    So that accounted for the silence from one of her trio, but that still left two others who were rarely quiet.  While she knew Haru could be quiet on his own, when he was together with Tisias, they were rarely quiet.  They seemed to think that discussions went better when held at maximum volume, though Babb had yet to figure out why.  All she’d managed to do was get them to keep it to a maximum INDOOR volume when they argued in their room.  Outside, she had given up trying to control their arguments.  It was just easier to let them go at it.  They still seemed to be good friends, so whatever Babb thought of their peculiarities, as long as no one got hurt she let it go.

    Placing an ear against the door to the room the two males shared gave Babb no clue to what they might be doing.  She couldn’t hear much, only the odd sigh and a faint tap sound.  She frowned, wondering just what they were doing that they were both so quiet.  Because last she’d checked, they were both home, unless one of them had snuck out in which case he would be in trouble when Babb found him.

    Quietly she opened the door and stuck her head in, looking around the room.  Immediately she could see that both cats were still in the room, much to her relief.  She wouldn’t have to go hunt one down and punish him.  It just made the situation more confusing though, until she paused to think for a moment about what she was seeing.  The instant she really looked at the two males, at their positions, she realized exactly what must be going on.

    Tisias sat in one corner, hunched over a piece of paper.  His thick fish shaped tail tapped out an irregular beat on the floor, even though his fur muffled the sound of it.  He chewed on the end of a pen, staring at the paper as if it was about to tell him the secrets of the universe.  Several times he grabbed the pen and moved as if to write something only to pause and sigh before putting it back in his mouth.  He had a look of intense concentration, mouthing words to himself.

    Haru sat in the opposite corner, with his own paper and pen.  He showed none of Tisias’s agitation, at least to the casual observer.  Babb knew the calico cat well though and could see he was just as intensely focused as his roommate.  He sat rock still with his tail was curled tightly around all four paws.  While Tisias chewed on his pen, Haru looked like he hadn’t touched his at all yet, the pen lying perfectly in the center of the paper.  The calico had his eyes closed, his head tipped back as if looking to the heavens for help.  He barely looked like he was breathing, he was sitting so still. 

    Babb smiled and closed the door quietly, not wanting to interrupt their concentration.  She didn’t need to worry though.  When Haru and Tisias got into their poetry competitions, nothing would disturb them until they’d found the perfect words and written them.  Until then, the world didn’t exist to them.  Their concentration was intense, each determined to find a way to outdo the other in their poems.  Still, at least Babb knew now why there was silence in the house and she planned to enjoy it.  Soon enough, she knew it would be back to its usual volume as the two males debated whose poem was better.  Not to mention, it would probably wake Samphire and she’d start yelling too, in an attempt to make them stop yelling.  Shaking her head, Babb chuckled to herself.  Well, her little house was never boring, she thought with a satisfied purr.

    Back in the room, Haru and Tisias worked on their poems, oblivious to the motherly cat’s intrusion.  They composed the words in their head, not wanting to write anything until they were sure they had it perfect.  After all, the rules said that once a word was written on the paper, it couldn’t be changed.  They had one chance to get the perfect poem and one chance only.  It made the competition that much better because without a challenge, it would be a rather boring competition.  This way, they had to think about each word carefully.

    Haru was the first to begin writing.  He uncurled his tail and picked up his pen, hovering it over the paper for a moment as he debated one last time about his words.  Finally he nodded and wrote the first word.  He wrote slowly and steadily, not wanting to make any mistakes.  What he wrote was what he would present and he was determined to present his best. 

    Even though he was using a normal pen, his words had a look to them that reminded anyone looking at them of calligraphy.  Long lines and delicate curls gave his writing a pleasant look to it.  It was a habit he couldn’t seem to stop, developed from spending so much time practicing calligraphy.  He’d practiced so much that it showed up in his writing even when he wasn’t trying to.  Of course, when he was actually doing calligraphy, his writing went from just pleasing to look at to being a true work of art.

    Haru may have been the first to start writing but Tisias was actually the first to finish.  He started writing not long after the calico but he didn’t take the same slow care.  Instead he wrote quickly, not wanting to risk losing the poem in his head now that he’d finally found the perfect way to phrase it.  His words were scrawled quickly over the paper, pausing only long enough to make sure everything was spelled correctly.

    Finished paper in hand, Tisias turned around to face his roommate.  He didn’t say anything, adhering to one of the other rules of the competition – No talking until they were both done.  A single word could completely throw a writer off course, make them lose track of what they were thinking or writing.  So out of courtesy to each other, no one spoke.

    Finally though, Haru signed his paper with a flourish and turned around, making his bell jingle softly.  He gave Tisias a small smile.  “Ready?”  He asked in a quiet voice. 

    Tisias nodded quickly.  “You got to read first last time, so this time it’s my turn.”  He declared, looking to Haru as if waiting for the other male to argue.

    Haru just flicked his tail in a casual shrug.  “Well, they say to save the best for last.”  He teased with that small smile of his.

    Tisias narrowed his eyes and huffed but couldn’t do much since he’d been the one to demand to go first.  He took a deep breath and calmed himself, relaxing before starting to read.  Contrary to what many mothcats would have thought, Tisias actually had a rather pleasant reading voice.  Somehow, all his yelling matches with Haru hadn’t ruined his voice.  He spoke with a dramatic roll to his words, knowing just where to put the emphasis in his works. 

    “I call this one ‘Dreams Of What Might Be’.”

    Spring wind, carry my words for me

    Be my voice and be my key

    To unlock a new world

     

    Butterfly wings, stir the wind

    For the furred and finned

    As new leaves unfurled

     

    Spring to summer to fall

    Bringing orange and small

    To leaves that curled

     

    Dawn so bright and clear

    Pushes away the fear

    That inside me swirled

     

    Music rings in my ears

    So sweet it brings tears

    And around me twirled

    Haru nodded thoughtfully, listening to the poem.  It was well written, he decided, and would be hard to beat.  Still he was confident in his own poetry skills.  “Pretty good, Tisias.  But I’m not sure it’s good enough.”  He said, holding up his own paper.

    Tisias, who’d been watching Haru carefully, sighed as the calico missed the subtle references in his poem.  How could one cat be so oblivious, he wondered.  He’d done pretty much everything but get up in front of that speckled nose and yell it in his loudest voice.

    Haru mistook the sigh though, thinking Tisias was just exasperated with his confidence.  He looked down at his paws.  “Well, I think it’s pretty good at least.”  He amended.  He shuffled his paws nervously but Tisias just gestured for him to read. 

    “Come on then.  Show me what you’ve got if you think it’s so much better.”  Tisias said with a mocking grin, putting his disappointment aside.

    “I’ve titled this one, ‘Me, Not Luck’.”  Haru said, starting to read.  Unlike Tisias, he didn’t have a dramatic voice.  Rather, he had a soft voice, one that made others lean forwards to listen better.  He still had a faint accent to his speech but it only made it more interesting to listen to the calico read.  His words flowed smoothly, like water with no rocks to disturb it.

    Me, I did this

    I made this happen

     

    Luck, didn’t do this

    Luck didn’t make things happen

     

    Me, I stepped forwards

    I connected the pieces

     

    Luck, can’t step forwards

    Luck can’t connect the pieces

     

    Me, I made these changes

    I turned this life around

     

    Luck, can’t make changes

    Luck can’t turn a life around

     

    Me, I won’t rely on Luck

    I will make my life my own

     

    Luck, it relies on me

    Luck will not make my life

     

    This is Me, not Luck

    And I will be Me.

    Tisias cocked his head to the side, listening.  “Interesting form choice, with all the repetitiveness.”  He said thoughtfully.

    Haru rolled his eyes.  “Oh like yours wasn’t repetitive.  You had three lines to each stanza, the first two rhyming to each other and the last one rhyming to everything.”  He pointed out dryly.

    “Rhyming is a recognized method to create a poetry form!”  Tisias countered, a cross look on his face.

    “Maybe so, but it’s repetitive and boring!”  Haru argued with him.  “Mine makes you pay attention.  You can’t drift off and know what’s coming because it doesn’t rhyme!”

    “No, yours just gets predictable!  ‘I did this, luck didn’t do this’.  See?  Predictable!”  Tisias’s voice was growing louder with each retort.

    “It’s not predictable!  It’s thought provoking!  It makes you wonder if what others call ‘luck’ is really just things they did themselves!”  Haru yelled back.  For normally being such a soft spoken cat, he never seemed to have a problem matching Tisias’s volume whenever the two really got going.

    Hearing the commotion from their room, Babb sighed to herself.  Well, it seemed like the peace and quiet was over.  All they needed was Samphire and the house would be back to normal.

    “Would you two shut up already?!  It’s just some boring poems!”  Samphire yelled at the pair from her room.

    And there it was, Babb thought, shaking her head.  She was smiling though, listening as the arguing escalated to include all three debating poetry.  Silence might be golden for some, but to the motherly cat, this raucous was what was truly golden.  After all, silent children are scheming children.  Much better to have them yelling.