----- Original Message -----

From: Laura Stamps

To: chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu

Sent: Friday, June 04, 2004 7:08 AM

Subject: New Poetry Book

New Poetry Book!

CAT DAZE: NEW & SELECTED POEMS by Laura Stamps

(60 pages, $5.00, free shipping in the U.S.)

This special book, small enough to tuck in a purse or pocket, contains a collection of cat poems by award-winning poet and novelist Laura Stamps.  The perfect gift for cat owners and cat-loving friends and family!  This attractive little book was also a finalist in the 2004 Plan B Press Chapbook Competition (Philadelphia, PA).  You'll find more information about CAT DAZE and other poetry books and novels by Laura Stamps at the Kittyfeather Press web site (www.kittyfeatherpress.blogspot.com).

TO ORDER: Make $5.00 check or money order payable to LAURA STAMPS

MAIL TO: Laura Stamps, Kittyfeather Press, P.O. Box 212534, Columbia, SC 29221-2534

Laura Stamps is an award-winning novelist and poet.  Over four hundred of her poems, short stories, and poetry book reviews have appeared in literary journals, magazines, and anthologies worldwide.  She is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction and poetry.  Her books are collected and archived by the Poetry/Rare Books Collection of the University Libraries at the State University of New York in Buffalo, New York, and the Gandhi Library in England.

The title poem from the book:

CAT DAZE  (c) Laura Stamps

The clouds today

are swift chalk strokes

skipping across the faux

marble of a cerulean sky,

and I am typing, when the cat

that's always in trouble

wobbles past me, wearing

a square tissue box

over her head, weaving

in a world that is suddenly

as murky as the ebony

gloss of a crow.

I twist the box from her neck,

and she gallops across

the hall, her ears

swimming with the slick

voice of mischief.

Later, interrupted again,

I turn toward an odd

thumping behind my chair,

where my youngest cat

slumps in the corner,

the tissue box planted

on his head, while he bangs

against the wall, a prisoner

in a cardboard cage

as opaque as the petals

of a black pansy.

I remove the box, and he rolls

on the floor, a pilgrim

happy to be free, as relieved

as any of us when we emerge

from our wanderings

in the sunless valley

to embrace the glorious

leaf-shine of the light.

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