Big Cat Dance
In my home state of Michigan
_They rip up all the roads
To vex the heart of every man
_Who kicks against the goads.
I curse and huff and I deride
_Each time I lose a lane.
They did it on the Southbound side,
_And now the North’s the same.
Today while I was driving East
_A vision gripped my mind:
A man atop a yellow beast—
_The big, earth-moving kind.
The Caterpillar 3-3-6
_Weighs eighty-thousand pounds:
With heavy bucket, boom, and tracks
_And growly big-cat sounds.
The operator deftly moved
_To swing the boom around,
Then with his hand some stick he shoved
_To plunge the bucket down.
The track fronts begged just like a pet—
_The Cat was on rear paws.
It did a ballet pirouette
_Around the bucket jaw.
Where once was wrath I now had awe;
_I watched it spin and prance.
I won’t forget the time I saw
_Him make that big Cat dance.
Paul Erlandson resides in Royal Oak Michigan, and has recently retired from an automotive engineering career with Ford Motor Company. He has had poetry published in “Dome” (a publication of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London) and “The Slumbering Host”, a volume of poetry collected by Clinton Collister and Daniel Rattelle.
Paul, what a wonderful description and excellent rhyming poem. We seem to have the same problem of the roads always having detours for road repairs in my hometown.
Thank you very much, Roy! Sorry to hear that you have the same road problems!
I love the choice of line length that made the poem gallop jovially along, and the way you pivotted from the frustrated motorist to a weird, magical dream culminating in the Big Cat Dance.
Thank you, Paul!
Paul:
I confess, I am mesmerized watching men operate such machines. I believe it to be an art form. Your poem captures all the sounds and movements of big machines that hold me in thrall. What a good poem!
T. M.
Thanks, T. M.!!
Cute feline poem, Paul. Well introduced by the road vexation that seems to happen in every state every summer. And admirably concluded by satisfied admiration of the Caterpillar operator’s art!
Thanks so much, Margaret!
That’s a fun and relatable poem which I enjoyed reading twice, thank you!
I am honored that you found it fun, Yael!
My grandson is fascinated by big earth-moving machines, anything with wheels or tracks, in fact. The biggest thrill of his short life came when my son-in-law’s brother-in-law let him sit in the cab of his giant excavator. In the end, as you showed us, Paul, we are all still little boys at heart. Here in Massachusetts it sometimes seems as if there were more detours than functional roadways.
I agree, C. B.! All little boys at heart, and wanting to move dirt around and operate machinery.
What a great opportunity for your grandson!! Yay!!
Very entertaining, Paul, and totally unexpected; for when I read the title, I wrongly assumed that it would be about wild cats such as lions.
Thank you, Cheryl!!
I enjoyed the sound of this poem as you explained how you got to witness “the big cat dance”. Also love the process of emotions the narrator goes thru from beginning to end. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your insightful comment, Paul!