For Thursdays at Two poetry group:

[tailor STATELY]

old wives tale

Winter still visits Spring; I strove
to start a fire in the wood stove
of dank pine and a piece of oak
giving a flicker of flame and smoke

so I let it be with a fervent hope
pondering poetic devices for a poem
of old wives tales and their scope
one worthy of adding to my tome

my black cat joined me in con-
templation snuggling between
my legs and I dozed for a time;
dreams ebbed and flowed -

hairs pricked up upon my neck
goosebumps up and down my
spine; I could see something
walking over my grave - my
headstone shining spectrally
in the starry dim-lit moonless
night. my cat arched his back
hissing a direful warning as
a shade advanced upon us -
standing my ground with my
cat twixt my feet still hissing
enjoining us to flee yet I tarried
and faced the shade as it began
its soliloquy: "YOU are the abom-
ination here, you and your fam-
iliar who left this mortal coil
uncounted years ago; what is
this witchery which brings you
to my sphere - BEGONE !"

I awoke
clammy, but grateful 'twas only
a dream
18° C in the room
where I had reclined
the wood stove having
given up on burning
the dank pine

now where was I ?

4/16/2026

Ta! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

[tonywalt]

This is a richly atmospheric and imaginative poem that moves gracefully between the ordinary and the uncanny. It begins with a grounded, almost domestic scene, the struggle to light a stubborn wood stove, and gently transitions into introspection, drawing the reader into a contemplative mood. Like it

[tailor STATELY]

Thank you so much! :)

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

[Danik 2016]

Enjoyed the poem, the playful mood, poor Tinky is a good transition element between reality and dream because the myths about black cats.

[tailor STATELY]

Thank you :) Also the old wives tale of the feeling one gets when someone else supposedly walks over one's grave.

Ta ! [I](short for tarradiddle)[I],
tailor