All Cats Turn Gray When the Sun Goes Down
By Dan Jaffe

The cat who glitters all around town,
The up-tight cat who can’t make a sound,
The cat who knows his way around,
They all turn gray when the sun goes down.

The swinging cat who’s never been unwound,
The cat who whirls round and round and round,
The desperate cat who can’t be found,
They all turn gray when the sun goes down.

Purple cat, yellow cat, pink or brown,
Ruffles or Killer of old Tarrytown ,
They all turn gray when the sun goes down.

The perfumed cat poured in her sequined gown,
The harried cat treed be a hound,
The cat who dreams of being crowned,
They all turn gray when the sun goes down.
They all turn gray when the sun goes down.

A snow fell
By Kevin Rabas

A snow fell
this afternoon as well as a silence.
Tree limbs I had never noticed suddenly blackened and bore
the weight of winter coming on in big flakes. Winter, first
heavy snow, Poor Richard’s and Farmer’s almanac offer no advice.
I cross campus light-hearted, my boots sure-footed. Everywhere
there is a silence. Then everything is cancelled, and on corners
and in front yards the snowmen go up, snow
men with icicle hair, carrots in ears, coal
for feet. Nothing today reminds me
of home. Nothing, but this silence, being able to hear
for miles, and not a word, not a word all day. I reach
for my cell-phone, and find it gone.

— Kevin Rabas lives in Lawrence, and Dan Jaffe, formerly of Kansas City, lives in Miami Beach, Fla. Both poets will read their work at 8 p.m. Friday for the third installment of the Lawrence Poetry Series. The series highlights regional poets each Friday in April, which is National Poetry Month. Poet’s Showcase features work by area poets. Submit your poetry via e-mail with a subject line of Poet’s Showcase to mpaget@ljworld.com or send typewritten (not handwritten) submissions to Mindie Paget, 645 N.H., Lawrence 66044, attn: Poet’s Showcase.