The Poetry Show: The Poetry of Sue Silver

  Enlighten Radio Presents Shepherdstown, WV Poet Sue Silver Shines

 

Image: a MS Copilot interpretation of a verse in Catness

  Sue Silver -- a longtime Shepherdstown poet, shares some poignant and powerful poems. Her friends join in the studio to listen to her reading. In the poem below, Sekhmet was a powerful and multifaceted ancient Egyptian goddess, often depicted with a lioness head, representing both the destructive force of war and sun's healing power. Broadcast LIVE Wednesdays, 10 AM on https://player.enlightenradio.org Hosts: Janet Harrison, John Case This Episode Recorded April 9, 2025

Catness

by Sue Silver

One night with the wind blowing wildly
my cat climbs down from the porch chair.
She rolls around on the ground.
I wait, hold the door open ‘til she,
in her own time, makes her way inside.
The wind, all this while,
works to wrest the door from my grasp.
I run my hand over her black fur.
Her yellow eyes gaze at me steadily.
She purrs, her claws extend and retract on the cushion
that protects my legs as she sits in my lap.
I see the Egyptian Goddess, Sekhmet,
who did Ra’s bidding annihilating evil hordes,
after which she became the Great Healer, they say.
Ancient one - She who lives with the wind,
her eyes and paws reaching to me.
Her body, an echo
of all cats - tiger, panther, bobcat.
Her stride, her stance
that stillness in her strength.
The stalk, the pounce.

 

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