Creation According to the Cat [by Lera Auerbach]

 

 

Oil on Metal Roof Tile [by Lera Auerbach]

When God created animals, He first asked each animal for their permission. But He never received the Cat’s blessing. The Cat just didn’t answer, and God took the Cat’s silence as “yes.” But the Cat simply needed some time to think whether to enter into existence. It needed to look through the open doors of creation and then decide if it wanted to be in or out, but God was in a rush and didn’t pay enough attention to subtleties. So, He created the Cat along with all other animals. Later, the Cat reprimanded God. The Cat said that it was going to answer “no,” that God created it against its will, and that God needed to compensate it for all the pain and suffering since the creation of the world.

It is why God bestowed the Cat with nine lives. This way, it could have additional time to decide whether to stay alive or not. That’s why the Cat, unlike others, can move through time – it understands its porous nature and knows how to slip through. The Cat doesn’t like closed doors. According to the Cat, a good door is a door half-opened (or half-closed depending on the perspective.) According to the Cat, one should always see both sides and be free to change one’s mind at any time. According to the Cat, things only pretend to be solid, but in truth, they are mostly empty spaces, and one needs to learn to see through their illusory solidity.

According to the Cat, one needs to learn how to disappear and, even more importantly, when.

 

Comments

[Steffi Green]

Excellent. Also see Farhad Manjoo’s article in yesterday’s NYT.

[Emily Fragos]

Lera Auerbach, you are the cat's meow. Since I adore cats, that is the highest compliment! I am in awe of your mind/music/writing. My beloved cats, Penny and Sue, thank you very, very much.

[Heather Carlile]

Dear Lera, Thank you for clarifying what those of us who are already ‘cat people’ know well and find adorable so that the rest of the population may be able to understand us ‘feline folks!’

[Dr. Earle Hitchner]

Cat got your tongue? More likely Lera Auerbach's expressively and impressively voicing tongue got the cat

This poem is my idea of creation--in every sense of that word. I'm feline a lot better now. Brava, Lera!

P.S. Is "pun" short for "punishment"? This question still gives me paws.