The cat that sits

The cat that sits

The cat that sits in the kitchen floor

Has refused to go out when I open the door

He does not meow but will not be swayed

He wants his food poured in his plate

How often have I seen, a child, or man

Who will not speak but takes this stance

My own heart too, who just as meek

Waits, and wants, but will not speak

Craving, longing, for the giving hand.

But living prisoned, by my own command

As the cat upon that floor remains

I wait for love, to break these chains

Rhea Harmsen

Copyright 2018

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About rheaharmsen

Rhea Harmsen is a scientist, novelist and author of Language of the Spirit, a volume of selected poems. She has also released three novels, The Harvest of Reason, Intermarry, and God Created Women. Harmsen was born in a family with a black father and a white mother at a time when interracial marriage was still illegal in some states. Her parents gave her a vision of world citizenship that informs her writing and her lifestyle and has caused her to reject traditional views of race and gender. Harmsen's article "Science in the Hands of Women: Present Barriers, Future Promise" appeared in World Order in 1998 and provides the foundation for the story line for her novel The Harvest of Reason. She co-published the Monroeville Race Unity Forum Bulletin and authored many poems on racial topics, crystallizing the "conversation on race" in the novel Intermarry. Her work with domestic violence survivors in Puerto Rico inspired the novel God Created Women. Harmsen holds a doctorate in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She currently resides in Puerto Rico. Upcomming projects are described in her web page at rheaharmsen.com
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