Yaps

Patrick O'Neill

Big Kitten Lake

On the map,
Wildcat Lake spills
between contour lines
laced with access roads,
snuggles close
to a county highway,
and fills the corner
of a grid with acres of blue.

In the wilderness,
it’s a sanctuary
for pontoon boats,
jet skis,
high-powered motor boats.

On the map,
an outlet dangles
Big Kitten south of
Wildcat Lake,
like a ball of yarn
hooked to the claw
of one elongated bay.

In the wilderness,
Big Kitten plays, hunts alone
in its forest-fortified basin—
repelling boats, motors, people.
Big Kitten clamors
in its solitude,
screeches its freedom.
Here, it’s not a ball of yarn—
a toy on paper.
It’s a miniature Atlas.

It carries the big cat on its back.

isbn 1-59661-027-1
63 pages/$15

Over its nearly three decades of publication, Newsletter Inago has had the privilege of showcasing Patrick O’Neill's excellent narrative poetry more than once and looks forward to his future gracing of its pages. His verse with its wonderfully “everyman” characters brings so-called “common folks” to a literary immortality that demands his inclusion in the pantheon of old and new great poets.
—Del Reitz,
Editor and Publisher,
Newsletter Inago (Tucson, Arizona)

In Patrick O’Neill’s Yaps, inner monologues and outer dialogues fold into episodes—vignettes of everyday living. He sprinkles gentle treatments of the wisdom of animals throughout. This beautifully written book of poetry is a veritable kaleidoscope of highly interesting slices of life. His empathic style touches the reader’s heart-felt spirits while his offbeat wit and subtle irony produce provocative revelations.
—Dr. Tom Bruneau,
Professor Emeritus in Communication, Radford University

Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Patrick O’Neill grew up and attended high school in Waterford, Michigan, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, taught English for a few years at Comstock High School, then moved to Ironwood in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where he teaches writing and literature at Gogebic Community College and writes poems, stories, and plays.