Three Poems
by Jordan Trethewey
The Disappearance of the Ginger Tabby & the Unraveling of Mrs. MacDonald
I
Sometime after her hard military man died,
the old widow next door began to lure
neighbourhood pets to her unused red barn.
We were elementary school boys,
rural woodland ramblers in haphazard forts,
stick swashbucklers fabricating mysteries.
Summer always arrived with construction—
Parents building houses for expanding broods.
A time when small things, like cats, get overlooked.
Into a perfect storm of diverted attention,
wanders a lonely lady with a fetish for felines,
and in desperate need of a pastime.
II
Bobby the ginger tabby,
lone survivor of three cats for three boys,
knew how to hunt and explore.
King of culverts and backyard corridors,
but no cat is made of stone
when confronted with a cunning trail of treats
winding its way across property lines
to end at a padlocked chicken wire door.
Not in his DNA to turn down a free meal.
Presented with a play structure like no other,
gourmet and free range menu options,
freedom and human companion become afterthoughts.
III
Home construction neared completion.
Winter came, we called,
Here kitty kitty kitty!
Here kitty kitty kitty!
But Bobby never came.
We wailed and wondered for a time.
Asked the widowed neighbour—
whom Mother chauffeured,
whose lawn we mowed,
and driveway we shovelled
in years to come—
if she’d seen our cat.
The repeat reply always,
No dear, I’m sorry,
despite a barn full of strays.
Believed in Bobby as a predator
who’d find somewhere warm
between mouse meals.
IV
Years passed.
We believed in him, out there.
Somewhere. Must be.
Books about boys solving low-key crimes
became research, the characters companions
for a middle school kid who lost his.
Then a glimpse of ginger in the murk,
through the chicken wire door. A moment,
recognition from reflective eyes within.
Maybe I knew about Bobby's entrapment
all along, stood frozen between respect-
your-elders and youthful courage.
Mrs. MacDonald’s guilt confirmed
when a neighbourhood friend revealed
an identical story except for the ending.
She rescued her cat, took it home.
Bolstered by the power of her plot,
I waited for my opportunity—
for the catnapper to forget, leave
her barn-sized cage unlocked—
for my indecision to thaw into a jailbreak.
Amor y las chuparosas (Love & Hummingbird Charms)
Divine hummingbird enrich my life and love,
so that my lover will want only me.
-anonymous prayer
la vendadora
(the seller)
Adorned in death, with respect
not afforded it in life,
the hummingbird, petrified by peroxide,
is reverently lowered
onto a photograph of intended lovers-
their names thrice-inscribed on the reverse.
La bruja de border botanica
rolls the miniature mystic messenger,
first into a surreal Cuban cigarillo,
then into companionable underwear-
his and hers.
She places it inside a small, red satin bag,
coats it in pure, golden honey, and
oily promises of restlessness, attraction,
and thought-control via carnal incantations.
Rose petals seal the spell.
el amante
(the lover)
She draws tasselled drawstrings tight
after he lays sweaty, seasonally-earned
cash on the counter.
His princesa de barrio doesn't know it
yet,
but he will possess her heart
with this tricked-out, $30 la chuparosa-
the strength of this heavenly Hermes entombed
in amber, activated with provided prayer
whispered atop his candle-coated shrine.
el colibrí
(the hummingbird)
The iridescent metabolic marvel
never stops
eating and moving
unless caught in mist mesh
strung in trees,
or stuck on glue trap feeders,
like common houseflies,
or hit with 1.5 mm lead shot.
Circumstances in which it has failed
to adequately co-adapt-
like needle beak, and fluted flower-
to the constantly mutating
human desire for amor.
la official de vido silvestre
(the wildlife officer)
He follows the slight breeze
in the wake of this crime of passion;
these ephemeral criminals
committing an unheard-of crime
in the name of love.
Blasphemous Beatles once sang,
you can't buy me love,
but on the border, swindlers
well-versed in anachronistic mysticism,
posing as witches and holy men,
proffer pint-sized pollinators
at a premium.
Profit is clearly el motivo,
deduced through due diligence
of peeling price tags proclaiming-
Hecho en México- from commercial quantities
of miniscule, feathered mummies.
Risk of federal time, or decades in a Mexican hole,
trivial compared to the ire of an underworld employer
if you renege after drawing the short, sword bill beak.
He wonders if he might be taken seriously
if his endangered species file
engendered concern given African rhinos,
bald eagles, and stars of animated films.
A Day Like the Best Country Songs
Pet kangaroo got hit by a semi,
had to put him out of his misery.
Took him to a butcher buddy for salvage.
My tears sizzle on the grill,
barbecuing the undamaged flank...
Pffssst!
It's 5 o'clock somewhere.
Wife wouldn't quit nagging 'bout overgrown lawn.
Explained our duty to facilitate restoration
of North American honey bee population,
allowing natural growth of common flora.
No cash, she wasn't buying.
Local pavers more-than-willing to oblige
a need for neatness—levelled the whole front yard.
S’pose the next complaint will be 'bout
neighbours parking on it...
Pffssst!
It's 5 o'clock somewhere.
The kids hate my guts.
Got tired of stepping barefoot
on their goddamn LEGO and wheeled toys
while fumbling toward a 1 a.m. piss.
Took a butane torch,
melted all that shit together,
set it rolling down the street
dead-ending at the river...
Pffssst!
It's five o'clock somewhere.
BIO: Fredericton Poet Laureate Jordan Trethewey (2021-2024) lives in Nashwaaksis, with his wife, son, and daughter. Jordan writes poetry, drama, children’s literature, historical and short fiction. His writing appears in national and international journals…and on the right shoulder blade of a fan. He is an editor at the on-line literary journal Open Arts Forum. Some of his work is also translated in Vietnamese, Farsi, and French. Jordan’s latest book, “These Are the People in Your Neighbourhood” (2023), is the fulfillment of his legacy project as poet laureate. His books “Spirits for Sale” (2019), and “Unexpected Mergers” (2021) are collaborations with Dutch artist Marcel Herms. All are available on Amazon.