HIS FOOTWEAR
She is vegan
and compliments
him on his shoes.
He wonders what
it is she sees
about his shoes.
Inside the shoes
it says Brazil
made from paper.
FORTY YEARS AGO
When did he stop smoking?
Forty years ago.
When did he abandon
recreational drugs?
Forty years ago.
People in their thirties
try to imagine this
like astronomers
measuring galaxies.
DOMESTIC CATS
(With thanks to the Santa Monica Cat Club)
The American Bobtail comes from feral domestic cats with naturally occurring bobbed tails.
The American Curl has ears that curl backward naturally.
The American Shorthair descends from cats that came with the original European settlers.
The American Wirehair results from a mutation in the American Shorthair that took place in 1966.
The Birman is known for its white gloves.
The British Shorthair looks like a teddy bear.
The Chartreux in the old days was raised as a companion for French monks.
The Chinese Li Hua is one of the earliest known cats in the region.
The Cornish Rex has an egg-shaped head, large ears and a whippy tail.
The Devon Rex has large eyes and ears set low on its wide head, making it look like an elf.
The Egyptian Mau has a spotted coat and vivid gooseberry green eyes.
The European Burmese is brown, chocolate, blue, lilac, cream or apricot red and has large yellow to amber eyes.
The Exotic has a round flat face and large round eyes.
The Havana Brown has a mahogany coat and green eyes.
The Japanese Bobtail’s head forms an equilateral triangle with oval eyes and large upright ears.
The Korat, with a silver-tipped blue coat, has large peridot green eyes.
The LaPerm resulted from a mutation in the barn cats on an Oregon farm in 1982.
The Maine Coon is large and has hair tufts on ears and toes.
The Manx lacks a tail.
The Ocicat was bred from domestic cats to look like a spotted wild cat.
The Oriental, with a long tail and long legs, has large flaring ears and almond eyes.
The RagaMuffin’s coat is similar to that of a rabbit.
The Ragdoll originated in Riverside, California, in 1960.
The Russian Blue has a silver-tipped blue coat and green eyes.
The Scottish Fold was discovered in 1961 on a farm near Dundee.
The Siamese is vocal, with bright blue eyes and darkened points.
The Siberian was first imported from Russia in 1990.
The Singapura, from the streets of Singapore, arrived in the early 1970s.
The Somali is often called the little fox.
The Sphynx, referred to as the hairless or naked cat, often has fine down over its body.
The Turkish Angora will likely become the alpha cat in the home.
The Turkish Van loves water and has been called the swimming cat.
George Ryan was born in
Ireland and graduated from University College Dublin. He is a ghostwriter in New York City. Elkhound published his Finding Americas
in October 2019. His poems are nearly
all about incidents that involve real people in real places and use little
heightened language.