the cat approaches
Artist
The Alternative Press
Artist
Brenda Goodman
(American, born 1943)
Date1978
MediumLetterpress on paper booklet
DimensionsPaper Size (unfolded): 9 × 12 in. (22.9 × 30.5 cm)
Paper Size (folded): 9 × 5 7/8 in. (22.9 × 14.9 cm)
ClassificationsPrint
Credit LineGift of Gary Eleinko, 2023
Object numberUAC7446.14
DescriptionLetterpress printed poem by Faye Kicknosway titled, "the cat approaches".Letterpress printed drawing by Brenda Goodman.
the cat approaches
this cat
is the length of my arm. its voice
comes over the telephone strange, distorted, from
the space only memory speaks. there is no way
to see inside it. it dreams
of food and carries its young
in spoons. its paws are hooves and its tail
is leather. and it speaks in a voice
swollen and red with tears. it has been
the bride of chance, of
optical illusion. the telephone
complains there isn't enough water
in what is said. and the cat nods, looking
at its wet, electric body. the telephone
bristles and the cat
bristles and the moon, out of reach in the bedroom wall,
dips her red fingernails into the cats
heart, into the telephones
heart, and i, caught in unsolved memories, hear
in their union a noise
like forks and knives
cutting up meat
on a plate.
Published by The Alternative Press, Issue Number 9.
