From the collection published in 2021, The Immediate and No Sooner.
Tanka 229
11/23/20
an untidy game
the cat unrolls the red yarn
wraps up the chair legs
I knit straight from the tangle
Knots and cat hairs all of it
Tanka 230
11/23/20
A husband quibbles.
I stand at the kitchen sink.
The steak knife lounges
in a soothing bubble bath.
I hate to disturb it, but…
Shadorma 343
11/23/20
The new paint
resets memories
of mice nests
in ceilings
broken pipe floods and warped floors.
I breathe in the scent.
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
A fresh lick of paint can definitely transform more than just the colour of a room. It is one of my favourite things to do in terms of home improvements. I also enjoy washing things in hot, soapy water and getting everything shiny clean. The cat poem, of course, made me laugh because you always capture life with cats so perfectly.
I dislike painting rooms but I love the look of fresh paint. A new start and it’s refreshing mentally as well as physically.
These are all so evocative–little movie scenes in a verse. Of course, I liked the first one with the cat and cat hair. The second one I could imagine as a Hitchcock scene, and the third one so true. I don’t like the smell of paint, but it can certainly refresh a room.
Thank you. I think I like a paint smell because I associate it with a clean start, because on its own , my goodness, it’s a lot to take.
Yes, exactly. I think we often associate smells with particular things like that.
Again, really in-pulling. 🙂 The first made me smile, the second laugh. The third nothing because we have the little fellows too. No fun.
When I remodeled our basement I removed the old ceiling tiles and put up new ones. The evidence of mice in the old ones gave me the creeps every tile I replaced. We have always had cats since we lived here so maybe at least we’ve slowed them down a little. Eek.