StarCat/CatStar

TWO POEMS
By Laura Madeline Wiseman
Author bio: Laura Madeline Wiseman’s recent books are Drink (BlazeVOX
Books), Wake (Aldrich Press), and The Bottle Opener (Red Dashboard).
She teaches in Nebraska. Her collaborative book Intimates and Fools (Les
Femmes Folles) with artist Sally Brown Deskins, is an Honor Book for the
2015 Nebraska Book Award.
Our Life in Catnaps
When we move in together, we sleep on
blankets nested on the floor. We sleep on
pillows lined up like dominos, our butts
falling through the cracks. We sleep on a
camping air mattress you bring home
from the big box. It’s part-time, better
than donating blood. We fill the air
mattress, spread sheets. In the morning
it’s flat. I say, Put it under water. You
take out your phone to learn six ways to
find a leak, watch three videos of people
with nail polish and superglue, spray
bottles and valves that won’t shut, spend
two hours getting the kitchen floor wet.
The electric pump whirls. You say, Maybe
we could plug it in all night. You curse.
You take off your shirt. You carry the
wilting plastic into the shower and fill the
tub. The apartment fills with stream.
Your hair curls. I bring you a beer in in a
pint with a cat pattern. I make myself
coco in a mug with the handle in the
shape of a cat tail. After midnight, I say.
Let’s throw it away, not wanting to wake
surrounded by a plastic puff of failure. I
say, My ex-uncle might know someone
with an extra bed. I don’t say he’ll want
to give us cats, he’ll want to play bridge,
he’ll want to get you job as a nurse, even
though you’d prefer to get a job
catfishing. I kiss your nose, scratch your
chin, and pull you to the floor sleep.