Sometimes, life is hard

[brynmawr1]

You can’t expect me to spend that 
            on a cat, teeth rotting.
She isn’t eating, can’t you fix her?
 
He bit a child, this happy go lucky
            two-year-old pitty.
Ten-day quarantine or decapitation,
            that’s state law.
The trick is to find the angles between
            the vertebrae
to sever the ligaments.
 
A piece of me goes to the lab
            for testing;

a fabric worn bare,
about to tear beyond stitching.

[TranquillityBase]

You can’t expect me to spend that 
            on a cat, teeth rotting.
She isn’t eating, can’t you fix her?
 
He bit a child, this happy go lucky
            two-year-old pitty.
Ten-day quarantine or decapitation,
            that’s state law.
The trick is to find the angles between
            the vertebrae
to sever the ligaments.
 
A piece of me goes to the lab
            for testing;

a fabric worn bare,
about to tear beyond stitching.

Is " pitty" a typo, or a bit of slang I just don't know?

Don't quite get connection between last line and the poem.

Third stanza is my favorite.  It could stand alone.

[brynmawr1]

You can’t expect me to spend that 
            on a cat, teeth rotting.
She isn’t eating, can’t you fix her?
 
He bit a child, this happy go lucky
            two-year-old pitty.
Ten-day quarantine or decapitation,
            that’s state law.
The trick is to find the angles between
            the vertebrae
to sever the ligaments.
 
A piece of me goes to the lab
            for testing;

a fabric worn bare,
about to tear beyond stitching.

Is " pitty" a typo, or a bit of slang I just don't know?

Don't quite get connection between last line and the poem.

Third stanza is my favorite.  It could stand alone.

Yeah, this one is sparse.  I was afraid the last lines would be confusing.  'Pitty' is slang of sorts for Pitbull.  Before I try to edit too much, I am wondering what you think the poem is trying to convey.  Thanks for reading, TqB.
bryn

[TranquillityBase]

You can’t expect me to spend that 
            on a cat, teeth rotting.
She isn’t eating, can’t you fix her?
 
He bit a child, this happy go lucky
            two-year-old pitty.
Ten-day quarantine or decapitation,
            that’s state law.
The trick is to find the angles between
            the vertebrae
to sever the ligaments.
 
A piece of me goes to the lab
            for testing;

a fabric worn bare,
about to tear beyond stitching.

Is " pitty" a typo, or a bit of slang I just don't know?

Don't quite get connection between last line and the poem.

Third stanza is my favorite.  It could stand alone.

Yeah, this one is sparse.  I was afraid the last lines would be confusing.  'Pitty' is slang of sorts for Pitbull.  Before I try to edit too much, I am wondering what you think the poem is trying to convey.  Thanks for reading, TqB.
bryn

Ooops, I meant second stanza is my fave and could stand alone.

I'm not too good at explication, but I'll give it a shot: people and the issues they face in their relationships to their pets; pets have a hard life, dependent as they are on the goodwill of humans; the fabric worn bare would be a pet who has done something, like the pit, or simply gotten old and expensive to keep alive, in the first stanza.  That's what I'm thinking it's about.  Obviously, the examples portray our humanity at its possible best (or worst).  But central characters are the pets themselves, so it elicits sympathy for them in me.

Hope that is some help.  

[brynmawr1]

Is " pitty" a typo, or a bit of slang I just don't know?

Don't quite get connection between last line and the poem.

Third stanza is my favorite.  It could stand alone.

Yeah, this one is sparse.  I was afraid the last lines would be confusing.  'Pitty' is slang of sorts for Pitbull.  Before I try to edit too much, I am wondering what you think the poem is trying to convey.  Thanks for reading, TqB.
bryn

Ooops, I meant second stanza is my fave and could stand alone.

I'm not too good at explication, but I'll give it a shot: people and the issues they face in their relationships to their pets; pets have a hard life, dependent as they are on the goodwill of humans; the fabric worn bare would be a pet who has done something, like the pit, or simply gotten old and expensive to keep alive, in the first stanza.  That's what I'm thinking it's about.  Obviously, the examples portray our humanity at its possible best (or worst).  But central characters are the pets themselves, so it elicits sympathy for them in me.

Hope that is some help.  

Thanks TqB.  Sorry if I put you on the spot but it helps to know how the poem is interpreted.  I was a little confused by your comment on your favorite stanza!  I kept reading S3 thinking there was something in it I hadn't intended.  Ha!
There is one other character that I didn't make clear.  How about if I changed the title to "A Day in the Office"?  I'm terrible at titles.
Take care,
bryn

[TranquillityBase]

Thanks TqB.  Sorry if I put you on the spot but it helps to know how the poem is interpreted.  I was a little confused by your comment on your favorite stanza!  I kept reading S3 thinking there was something in it I hadn't intended.  Ha!
There is one other character that I didn't make clear.  How about if I changed the title to "A Day in the Office"?  I'm terrible at titles.
Take care,
bryn

No worries.  Just always afraid I'll embarrass myself by totally misinterpreting the poem.

So, the title: as in A Day at the (Vet's) Office?

[brynmawr1]

Thanks TqB.  Sorry if I put you on the spot but it helps to know how the poem is interpreted.  I was a little confused by your comment on your favorite stanza!  I kept reading S3 thinking there was something in it I hadn't intended.  Ha!
There is one other character that I didn't make clear.  How about if I changed the title to "A Day in the Office"?  I'm terrible at titles.
Take care,
bryn

No worries.  Just always afraid I'll embarrass myself by totally misinterpreting the poem.

So, the title: as in A Day at the (Vet's) Office?    Yes

Poetry is very easy to misinterpret as it is often intentional ambiguous.  Hard to add details without making it too prosaic.  I'll see if I can tweak it to make the relationships more clear.
Thanks
bryn

[TrevorConway]

You can’t expect me to spend that 
            on a cat, teeth rotting. [Good opening. It's arresting]
She isn’t eating, can’t you fix her? [Can't you fix her feels too bland somehow. Any alternatives?]
 
He bit a child, this happy go lucky
            two-year-old pitty. [I find the shift to a dog confusing. Have we shifted from the cat owner's perspective to the vet's perspective or the perspective of a dog owner?]
Ten-day quarantine or decapitation, [This seems facetious in a way that doesn't work for me. Don't know if that was intended]
            that’s state law.
The trick is to find the angles between
            the vertebrae
to sever the ligaments.
 
A piece of me goes to the lab
            for testing; [I like this idea/phrasing, though not sure what it's intended to mean in the context of the poem]

a fabric worn bare,
about to tear beyond stitching. [This idea feels a bit familiar, not an ideal way to end, I'd say]

Hi Brynmawr,

I found this quite interesting to begin with, a voice nicely captured. It then got a bit too fragmented for my taste, causing my engagement to wane a little. I wonder if pursuing more of the "story" approach would help, but keeping the more observational stuff at the end after you've given enough story to grapple onto.

All the best,

Trevor

[brynmawr1]

You can’t expect me to spend that 
            on a cat, teeth rotting. [Good opening. It's arresting]
She isn’t eating, can’t you fix her? [Can't you fix her feels too bland somehow. Any alternatives?]
 
He bit a child, this happy go lucky
            two-year-old pitty. [I find the shift to a dog confusing. Have we shifted from the cat owner's perspective to the vet's perspective or the perspective of a dog owner?]  you aren't the first.  working on it.
Ten-day quarantine or decapitation, [This seems facetious in a way that doesn't work for me. Don't know if that was intended]  No, not intended to be facetious.
            that’s state law.
The trick is to find the angles between
            the vertebrae
to sever the ligaments.
 
A piece of me goes to the lab
            for testing; [I like this idea/phrasing, though not sure what it's intended to mean in the context of the poem] working on making this clearer, too.

a fabric worn bare,
about to tear beyond stitching. [This idea feels a bit familiar, not an ideal way to end, I'd say]

Hi Brynmawr,

I found this quite interesting to begin with, a voice nicely captured. It then got a bit too fragmented for my taste, causing my engagement to wane a little. I wonder if pursuing more of the "story" approach would help, but keeping the more observational stuff at the end after you've given enough story to grapple onto.

All the best,

Trevor

Hi Trevor,
thanks for reading and commenting.  I have continued to work on it since my last post.  Will post edit soon.
Take care,
bryn