On a trip to Hawaii several years ago, I wrote a lot of haiku. Something about being closer to Japan in a land influenced by Japan, I guess. On the big island, there are bands of feral cats. I tried to make friends. Of course, I had no control over the situation at all.
Today I bring cheese
my little wild black cat, but
you will not be bought
The haiku masters often mentioned cats. Issa wrote some of my favorites.
A spitting image
of his mother
the kitten
Some of the most often quoted of Issa’s cat haiku involve the cat’s love life.
He sleeps, he wakes
he has a big yawn
the cat goes courting
Another master, Basho, also wrote about a cat and love.
Why so scrawny, cat?
starving for fat fish
or mice . . .
Or backyard love?
Poetic Champions 