Cats, Dogs and Feathered Gods

By K.V. Martins

Think poetry and history are boring? Think again. A collection of 48 poems about kelpies, Egyptian intrigue, witch hunters, Roman banquets and much more.

 

Find yourself sailing on a Portuguese galleon bound for Lisbon, watch the ancient library of Alexandria burn, and discover who could be trusted in ancient Egypt. Go on a journey through the cloth markets of Constantinople, to Helen's Troy and the steppes of Mongolia. Along the way, meet Leonardo da Vinci, Rene Descartes, Charles Darwin, Albrecht Durer, as well as the cats, dogs, and feathered gods of the ancient world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aroona Group Press
• Release date: Mar 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9780473560140

K.V. Martins

K.V. Martins is originally from Sydney, Australia but now lives in New Zealand. Her work has been featured in various literary journals and she has won writing and poetry competitions. She has a B.A. (Hons) in History.

Book preview

CATS, DOGS AND FEATHERED GODS

A Poetic Journey Through History

K.V. Martins

Shape Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Aroona Group Press

First published 2021 by Aroona Group Press

Copyright © K.V. Martins 2021

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

ISBN 978-0-473-56014-0 (e-pub)

ISBN 978-0-473-56013-3 (paperback)

This book is copyright. Except for the purpose of fair review, no part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Shape Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Aroona Group Press

Design/layout: Rui Helder

Cover art: Jeroen op jacht, Tinus van Doorn, 1937 (Public Domain)

CONTENTS

Author’s preface

Marco Polo on the Way to Xanadu

The Five Tyrants of Gela

Alone in an Etruscan Tomb

A Roman Soldier in Constantine’s City

The Lady of the Lines

The Gourmand and the Flamingo

Temple of the Feathered Serpent

Not Everyone Could Be Trusted in Ancient Egypt

Four Tales of Dogs and Their Collars

Ailuromancy

Witch Hunters

Haiku

On a Portuguese Galleon Bound for Lisbon

How to Become a Medieval Knight

Troy in Three Tales

Haiku

A Star Path to New Zealand

Ryujin (reimagined)

Samhain

Instructions from Leonardo da Vinci on How to Paint Women

Quetzalcoatl

Great Khan and the Antelope

Following Darwin’s Footsteps

A Library Burns

Albrecht Dürer and the Hare

The Battle of the Hydaspes

How to Be a Byzantine Empress with Three Husbands (and one scheming adopted son)

Special Invitation to 69, 574 Assyrians

What I Can Tell You About Fossilized Amber

Tyrian Purple

A Kelpie Tale

The Nimrud Dogs

Somewhere in the Sahara

Rene Descartes as Remembered by his Maid

In the Land of No Return

Woman with Bound Feet

Cave of Letters

Notes of a Plague Doctor Coming Out of Retirement

The Nebra Sun Disc & the Seven Sisters

One Night with Bes

The Funeral Procession

The Colors of the Pilgrim World

The Elizabethan Tailor and His Daughter

LIST OF WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES USED FOR POEMS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FICTION BY K.V. MARTINS

Subscribe to Newsletter

Author’s preface

I was fortunate to have a wonderful History teacher in high school – Mr. Thomas – who told his students stories of humankind’s accomplishments and failures, discoveries and losses. We heard incredible tales of resilience and survival in times and conditions we can only imagine today. History was not a bunch of meaningless dates we had to learn for exams – it was living, breathing, cyclical. With this student, at least, Mr. Thomas was successful in instilling a lifelong love of history. So great was this passion, I went on to university to study history for my undergraduate degree.

As luck would have it, Mr. Thomas was also my English teacher and taught poetry. Through his lessons, I discovered poems can encourage us to see the familiar in new and surprising ways, or sometimes, poems are so ambiguous and puzzling they challenge our habitual thoughts and belief systems.

I wrote poetry as a teenager – secretly – in notebooks, on scraps of paper, a few words smudged in pen on my palm. No doubt they were full of overwrought emotions and cringeworthy cliches, but I have continued scribbling over the years, and my poems have been published or won poetry competitions.

Cats, Dogs and Feathered Gods is a collection of 48 poems that bring together many of my favorite historical topics – Bucephalus (Alexander the Great’s horse), Helen of Troy, Celtic folklore, food and fashion in ancient Rome, Portuguese navigation – to name a few.

As