, ,

Familiar Spirit

Familiar Spirit

Another poem found among my grandparent’s possessions. This one comes courtesy of an old, old volume of The Line Book. The inner cover explains that it’s “a compilation of the choicest verse and prose published the ‘Line o’ Type or Two’ column of the Chicago Tribune”. This particular volume of excerpts from Richard Henry Little’s columns was from 1935, but the books were published from 1924 to at least 1947. I expect to be posting many more treasures found from other volumes soon!

Familiar Spirit

Trouble is a yellow cat
Because that’s her nature.
Trouble’s curiosity
With no redeeming feature.
Trouble has a sharp tooth,
A quick slashing claw;
She sheathes evil daggers
In a small velvet paw

Trouble’s purely feminine –
Women are trouble –
She pries in the corners;
She digs in the rubble.
She cries after moonbeams;
She snarls and she hisses;
She purrs after spankings;
She bites when she kisses.

Why call her Trouble?
Well, she sleeps on my pillow,
She follows behind me,
She sups to her fill. Oh,
She harries and loves me
And enemies enthrall her.
Not call her Trouble?
What else could I call her?

-Nancy Shores

13 responses to “Familiar Spirit”

  1. Jesse Colton Avatar

    It seems a bit sexist, even though it’s written by a woman.

    1. CorinaWrites Avatar

      Definitely sexist, which is the only part about it that I didn’t like. But I guess that attitude was the norm in 1935 – glad times have changed. Thanks for commenting!

  2. Nancy (Shores) McCarley Avatar
    Nancy (Shores) McCarley

    Corina – Nancy Shores is my paternal grandmother. I never met her; she passed away in 1951. I tripped over your blog entry doing some searches on the web for Chicago Tribune Line OType poet Nancy Shores. I have found very little information about her to date. I just learned today that she was a contributor to Line O’Type. Do you have any sense for how many poems she has in The Line Book and over what years? I’ll have to start searching that online. What a pleasant surprise to find her poem on your blog.
    Nancy

    1. CorinaWrites Avatar

      Hi Nancy! I just randomly found this in one of the Line Books, but she may have more in them. They did seem to use the same contributors/authors on multiple occasions. Right now all of the books are packed away, but once I find them amidst all my stuff I will look more closely. If I find any more by your grandmother I will certainly let you know!

      Also this is why I love the internet – something was made like 80 years ago, re-discovered and posted online two years ago, and now you happened upon it all this time later. It’s pretty cool, huh? :)

      1. Nancy (Shores) McCarley Avatar
        Nancy (Shores) McCarley

        Corina – just out of curiosity, what was your grandparents last name and where did they live?

        1. Nancy (Shores) McCarley Avatar
          Nancy (Shores) McCarley

          Let me ask the question a different way. Was the last name Burcham or DuVal?

          1. CorinaWrites Avatar

            Nope neither of those. To be honest I’m not even sure exactly which family member collected those Linebooks originally. Could have been any number of relatives!

            1. Nancy (Shores) McCarley Avatar
              Nancy (Shores) McCarley

              If you ever decide you’d like to get rid of them, I’d be happy to take them off your hands!

              1. CorinaWrites Avatar

                Once I manage to find them – they’re buried in the garage somewhere at the moment – I will be in touch!

          2. Kathi Andreasen Avatar
            Kathi Andreasen

            Nancy Shores was married to Alexander Gilmore DuVal, who later married my great-aunt. I have some info and contacts regarding her if you’d like to contact me.

            1. Nancy (Shores) McCarley Avatar
              Nancy (Shores) McCarley

              Kathi – I’d be very interested in whatever info you have on Nancy and Alex. I have pieced together a little bit…very little! What is the best way to contact you?

              1. Kathi Andreasen Avatar
                Kathi Andreasen

                Nancy, you can email me at skubado2u@aol.com.

                1. CorinaWrites Avatar

                  I feel like I’m running my own tiny division of ancestry.com. Happy you two found one another!

Leave a Reply

I’m Corina

Welcome to CorinaWrites! Here you’ll find my thoughts, commentary and poetry about whatever is occupying my mind at the moment. I’ve done a lot of posts on sitcoms (especially HIMYM), safe sex, books (especially the Black Dagger Brotherhood), plus size issues and some liberal politics. I hope you enjoy what you find here, and I welcome your questions and comments.

Let’s connect

Discover more from CorinaWrites

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading