{"id":4349,"date":"2023-08-20T07:03:05","date_gmt":"2023-08-20T11:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=4349"},"modified":"2023-08-02T15:40:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T19:40:17","slug":"poem-karma-cat-28000-poems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"

This poem toys with the notion of karma and reincarnation as a vehicle for moral evolution and sum sort of cosmic justice. This poem employs as a metaphor the relationship between a karmic cat living thousands of lives encountering uncounted mice. This poem also embeds a layer of obscure numerology that connects the reference in the poem’s title of “-28,000 Poems” and the quantitative aspects contained within the poem. This is not essential to “getting” this poem; and I will outline that particular layer of the poem below.\u00a0 May we evolve morally in each and every weigh where necessity is not the mother.<\/p>\n

Karma Cat -28,000 Poems<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Karma cat burned
\nThrew 9 lives regularly
\nThen agin
\nSum how
\nTimes 9,000 more
\nParently equal
\nTo ate he one thousand
\nIn a sum what
\nVicious cycle
\nOf ate mice
\nAnd for every won
\nOf earthen necessity
\nEight mice played
\nAnd times hate mice
\nAs if peering just
\nFor fun
\nIn that land of unnecessary
\nA life more than fueled
\nMorphing into cruel plays
\nAnd as mirror luck
\nWould halve it
\nKarma cat flailed
\nTwo evolve
\nMore than is
\nAnd what would be
\nIn the wiled blue yonder
\nThe final chaser
\nBillowing mice
\nShrouding clear skies
\nForgiven 7 times 7,000
\nUnforgiven too times 2,000
\nAnd, at least
\n28,000 poems
\nMissing
\nLives
\nOn
\nAnon<\/p>\n

First, the optional numerology of this poem is a play between the aspects of our world that are quantitative, numerically measurable, and those aspects, the qualitative, that transcends such relatively convenient and handy measurability.\u00a0 Specifically, the “-28,000 poems” refers to the “at least” 28,000 lives “missing” (one life equals at least one poem) due to karma cat’s unnecessary and cruel “playing” and killing of mice for sport throughout karma cat’s 81,000 lives (9 lives times 9,000 = 81,000). Ultimately, karma cat is forgiven 7 times 7,000 times (49,000 times — and lives) and unforgiven two times 2,000 times (4,000 times — and lives). This nominally means that for karma cat’s 81,000 lives, 49,000 mouse lives taken were counted and accounted as forgiven and 4,000 mouse lives taken were counted and accounted as unforgiven. The 53,000 mouse lives taken (49,000 + 4,000) that are accounted for leaves the remainder or offset of karma cat’s 91,000 lives lived at 28,000 lives (91,000 – 53,000 = 28,000) missing, or unaccounted for.<\/p>\n

At first look, this refers to the missed opportunity of moral evolution in 28,000 of karma cat’s lives, making the balance, or lack thereof, in the excess of karma cat’s lives compared to accounted for lost mouse lives (assuming sum kind of equivalency). Of course, a cat kills way more than one mouse per lifetime, so the presumed “at least” 28,000 lives lost is overwhelmingly an underestimate, when considering only, or in addition, the countless mouse lives lost in total.\u00a0 This is meant to represent the absurdity of attempting to quantify such losses of lives and life, and how ultimately this is uncounted and uncountable. The “one life equals one poem” is an intentional crude and absurd parity of trying to mathematically account for such losses. Also, I hope that every life has a poem written about it. I am trying to do my part in this regard. Though I must confess, doing my part often only results in short term pleasures and unseen long-term benefits.<\/p>\n

To those familiar with my poems, not surprisingly, there are more layers built into this poem on this theme.\u00a0 For instance, the “too” in “Unforgiven too times 2,000” is a pun with “two.” I choose the “too” as a counter to the notion that karma cat is forgiven way more than he is unforgiven (7 times 7,000 forgiven = 49,000 versus unforgiven 2 times 2,000 = 4,000), The “too” shifts the meaning to 2,000 times more unforgiveness than forgiveness.\u00a0 This could more naturally include the uncounted mice killed in the more straightforward equation, as well as simply meaning that such cruelty is unforgivable, a loss that can never fully be redeemed. Of course, what came first, “Forgiven 7 times 7,000” is a reference to Jesus’ answer to his disciple Peter’s question, “How many times should we forgive someone who sins against us?” Jesus’ answer was “not seven times, but seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22). This was not meant to be a literal number, but a number so large that it cannot be applied to the type of accounting that Peter was positing. This is simply another mind-blowing transcendent answer that Jesus provided his often somewhat dullard disciples. My multiplication by 1000-fold is a clumsy tip of the hat to this sublime answer, and it fits the structure of the poem.<\/p>\n

A pop culture equivalent of the absurdity of measuring life and poetry comes from the movie, “Dead Poet’s Society,” where the English professor instructs the students to tear out of their textbooks the Pritchard scale which intends in a simple, two-dimensional way measure the value of a poem, reciting several memorable quips, including “we’re not laying pipe.” See movie clip here<\/a>. Movie genius — watch it!<\/p>\n

Enough on the “optional” numerology. This poem centers more on the unfathomable, ongoing losses of “unnecessary” cruelty. The subject of necessary and unnecessary are reflected upon in many poems of mine. I won’t belabor it more here.<\/p>\n

Regarding karma and reincarnation I have a general skepticism about a tightly engineered justice that can be squared off in sum wholly accurate weigh — though perhaps holy accurate. Whatever weigh, I am a life-longing member of mourning anon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This poem toys with the notion of karma and reincarnation as a vehicle for moral evolution and sum sort of cosmic justice. This poem employs as a metaphor the relationship between a karmic cat living thousands of lives encountering uncounted … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[274,400,105,443,516,440,414,485,317,202,388,24,402,349,359,611,461,486,438,155,509,594,658,291,94,90,321,290,547],"class_list":["post-4349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-absurdity","tag-balance","tag-crude","tag-cruelty","tag-culture","tag-evolution","tag-forgiveness","tag-genius","tag-hate","tag-holy","tag-hope","tag-jesus","tag-justice","tag-karma","tag-life","tag-loss","tag-luck","tag-meaning","tag-mind","tag-moral","tag-mourning","tag-play","tag-poems","tag-poet","tag-poetry","tag-pop-culture","tag-skepticism","tag-society","tag-transcendent"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Absurdity, Balance, Crude, Cruelty, Culture, Evolution, Forgiveness, Genius, Hate, Holy, Hope, Jesus, Justice, Karma, Life, Loss, Luck, Meaning, Mind, Moral, Mourning, Play, Poems, Poet, Poetry, Pop Culture, Skepticism, Society, Transcendent Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Top Pun\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/20\\\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/20\\\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Top Pun\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"headline\":\"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-20T11:03:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/20\\\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":887,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"keywords\":[\"Absurdity\",\"Balance\",\"Crude\",\"Cruelty\",\"Culture\",\"Evolution\",\"Forgiveness\",\"Genius\",\"Hate\",\"Holy\",\"Hope\",\"Jesus\",\"Justice\",\"Karma\",\"Life\",\"Loss\",\"Luck\",\"Meaning\",\"Mind\",\"Moral\",\"Mourning\",\"Play\",\"Poems\",\"Poet\",\"Poetry\",\"Pop Culture\",\"Skepticism\",\"Society\",\"Transcendent\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Poems\",\"Political and Philosophical Musings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/20\\\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/20\\\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/20\\\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\\\/\",\"name\":\"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-20T11:03:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Absurdity, Balance, Crude, Cruelty, Culture, Evolution, Forgiveness, Genius, Hate, Holy, Hope, Jesus, Justice, Karma, Life, Loss, Luck, Meaning, Mind, Moral, Mourning, Play, Poems, Poet, Poetry, Pop Culture, Skepticism, Society, Transcendent Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/20\\\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/20\\\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/20\\\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog HOME\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Poems\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/poems\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!\",\"description\":\"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\",\"name\":\"Top Pun\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Top Pun\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/TopPun.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","description":"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Absurdity, Balance, Crude, Cruelty, Culture, Evolution, Forgiveness, Genius, Hate, Holy, Hope, Jesus, Justice, Karma, Life, Loss, Luck, Meaning, Mind, Moral, Mourning, Play, Poems, Poet, Poetry, Pop Culture, Skepticism, Society, Transcendent Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Top Pun","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/"},"author":{"name":"Top Pun","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"headline":"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems","datePublished":"2023-08-20T11:03:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/"},"wordCount":887,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"keywords":["Absurdity","Balance","Crude","Cruelty","Culture","Evolution","Forgiveness","Genius","Hate","Holy","Hope","Jesus","Justice","Karma","Life","Loss","Luck","Meaning","Mind","Moral","Mourning","Play","Poems","Poet","Poetry","Pop Culture","Skepticism","Society","Transcendent"],"articleSection":["Poems","Political and Philosophical Musings"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/","name":"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-08-20T11:03:05+00:00","description":"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Absurdity, Balance, Crude, Cruelty, Culture, Evolution, Forgiveness, Genius, Hate, Holy, Hope, Jesus, Justice, Karma, Life, Loss, Luck, Meaning, Mind, Moral, Mourning, Play, Poems, Poet, Poetry, Pop Culture, Skepticism, Society, Transcendent Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/20\/poem-karma-cat-28000-poems\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog HOME","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Poems","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/category\/poems\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"POEM: Karma Cat -28,000 Poems"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/","name":"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!","description":"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e","name":"Top Pun","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Top Pun"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/TopPun.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4349"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4356,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4349\/revisions\/4356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}