Two poems by Stephanie Sellars
"Lioness" and "Cheetah"
LIONESS
Lazy lions,
safari guides say
when two or more are spotted
lying in beds of grass
some side by side,
ear on neck, torso to thigh
overlapping limbs on bellies
A lioness lolls on her back
front paws curled onto her chest
back paws dropping in a half-ass
happy baby pose
Tails swat flies like ropes slapping sheets
We laugh when she covers her eyes with her paws
like fat ginger cats in Instagram reels
an adolescent paw
rests on another’s back
she is more alert, head up, looking
when she flops back down
the paw slides off,
alarm on snooze
A teen cub gets up
walks five feet
as if he’s going somewhere
only to drop down again on his side
Onto another cub in sphinx pose
on higher ground about ten feet away
from the pride
we project self-assertion, independence,
the black sheep silently bleeting:
I’ll have no part of that anymore
In New York I lie on my bed
curl my paws
swat
as I turn another year
under the Leo sun
August is no different in Kenya
but here everyone is away
on grass or sand or lounge chairs with drink pockets
or maybe even on safari
napping through longer days
What is there to celebrate?
I turn over, flop my arm over my cat
watch the cutest video of two gingers spooning
so that later that night, or early the next morning
I can maybe catch something with words
Have you ever heard of a human being
who after sprinting for hours, won a medal?
Or a writer who wrote a novel in a week?
Or a lioness who made a kill
after running around all day?
Ha ha that cat is so lazy!
Play it again.
CHEETAH
Cub paw flopped over Mama’s belly
like my cat’s paw over my arm
They raise their heads
look around then flop back down
not bothered by the big green boxes
surrounding them, containing humans
with their whiskies and wines and red plaid shukas
I want to lie down next to the cub
almost as big as his mother
I want to rub his belly and spoon him
like my cat at home
Tails switching, paws stretching
yawning, exposing fangs like paper triangles
too cute to be dangerous
rolling over to catch
the last of the tongue-pink sun
All cats are relaxed, confident
when their bellies are full
I don’t just want to wear a shuka
I want to paint black stripes
curving from my eyes to my cheeks
rest my head on Mama cat’s side
feel her belly expanding
for a nuzzle, she will groom me
My guide, native of this land, says
she wants to swallow cheetahs
and rebirth them into a new wild
We see what we want to see –
spotted skins, profit, pets, peace, abundance
a gaping mouth facing the blank sky
releasing a flood of wild cats
Safe in their home
About the Poet:
STEPHANIE SELLARS holds MFAs from Columbia University (film) and Bennington Writing Seminars. Her feature film Lust Life Love is distributed by 1091 Pictures on VOD platforms. Her writing has appeared in Hobart Pulp, Defenestration, Entropy, Moviemaker and elsewhere. She can be heard singing jazz on Spotify and ITunes. She lives in New York City and the Hudson Valley. IG: @the_stephaniesellars