Elizabeth Cassidy’s Cat Poem “Nine Lives Times Two Plus One”

Quick Summary:
Artist and poet Elizabeth Cassidy shares the story behind her cat-inspired poem “Nine Lives Times Two Plus One.” This short introduction sets the stage for an intimate Q&A and poem about adoption, presence, and the kind of love cats teach us without trying.

The Artist Behind the Words

This is the story of an artist who kept creating – and found her way back to poetry through cats, love, and presence.

Elizabeth Cassidy wrote to ask a simple question: whether Cats Magazine accepts poems. She shared that she is a poet living in the US and that she had recently adopted two four-year-old tabby brothers. She had written a poem and hoped to share it with other cat lovers.

Elizabeth is a mixed media artist and poet whose work moves between image and language, color and black & white, motion and stillness. A former New York–based artist now living in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, her creative path has moved through advertising, comedy, blogging, coaching, visual art, and a return to contemporary poetry. After the Pulse nightclub tragedy, she created Little Love Letters: A Peaceful Revolution, a project rooted in compassion, inclusion, and human rights. That same sensibility carries into her poetry today – quieter, perhaps, but no less intentional.

The poem shared below, Nine Lives Times Two Plus One, grew out of the adoption of two tabby brothers. It is not only a poem about cats, but about what cats offer when we slow down enough to notice: presence, grounding, and love without schedules or expectations.

Elizabeth’s conversation follows, along with the poem itself.

A Conversation with Elizabeth Cassidy

Your life has moved through many creative skins – advertising, comedy, blogging, coaching, visual art, poetry. When you look back now, does it feel like searching… or like your art was patiently waiting for you to catch up?

I am a creative person and the imaginative side of me showed up early in my life with drawing on the walls of my parents’ city apartment. I think being curious about life led me to keep exploring options. I loved everything I tried and am still involved with some to this day. I apply all the lessons I have learned. But to be honest, I never thought I would get back to my art. Was there enough time to start over with a career in the arts? My answer was, “Yes, I am an artist” and I embrace it and I will keep reinventing myself as I go along.

Recently, I decided I wanted to teach art classes and an opportunity came up. So, sometimes you have to ask for what you want and wait for it to show up. Of course, doing the work helps too!

Black silhouettes of cats in different resting and standing poses surrounding a short poetic text about cats on a white background. — “The single one thing that lowers eyelids, beats a heart – oh, thy name is cat.”
A poetic image by Elizabeth Cassidy capturing the universal calm and devotion cats inspire. *Image source:* **Instagram – @elizabethcassidystudioworks**
*(Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRPTEctAPC6/)*

You say your art is imperfect, but your messages are clear and precise. In a world that often feels fractured and loud, how do you decide what needs to be said – and what can be left beautifully unresolved?

I am an analog artist. I want my hands to touch the paper, the canvas and I want to keep it as an intimate experience between the artist and the tools that I use. I do not always go along with what the world says we should be doing. That way what I create is perfectly imperfect. I like going outside the lines and leaving pencil marks so people can see my journey. I love that writing poetry gives me permission to say how I feel about man’s inhumanity along with being the occasional cheerleader for the citizens on this planet. Plus, if my words resonate with another person and it makes them feel seen then I know I am making a difference.

You recently wrote a poem inspired by your two adopted tabby brothers. What was it about cats – and about this relationship – that made poetry feel like the right language for the moment?

On November 2, 2025, Ben and Oliver, two four-year-old brothers, came home with us. I love the idea of unconditional love or aloofness that I rarely glimpse in humans. I love their independence, their need for attention and them being the event planners in our lives. These two Tabby boys are so loving, and Oliver likes to use my keyboard at lease 4-5 times a day. No wonder I get very little done.

My poem Nine Lives Times Two Plus One came to be when I realized that cats do not have a clock telling them where to be and what to do. They can sit on your lap for five hours and then go eat a treat. But what I wanted to convey with my poem is how I learned a lesson or two about love. Just plain old, pure love.

Tabby cat reaching out with one paw toward butterflies, paired with a handwritten haiku about playful kitten energy by Elizabeth Cassidy. — Day two with Ben and Oliver. Curious, purring, and already testing boundaries, they inspired Elizabeth Cassidy’s first cat haiku – a quiet moment captured between wonder, play, and new beginnings. *Image source:* **Instagram – @elizabethcassidystudioworks**
*(Source: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethcassidystudioworks/)*

You’ve returned to poetry and found a surprising harmony between writing and ADHD. What does poetry give you that visual art does not – and how does your voice shift when you move from image to words?

I found I have more freedom with writing poetry than creating visual art. Years before being diagnosed with ADHD, I struggled with the lack of attention and other traits attributed to what people call a “disability.” I can say proudly that I have ADHD with the good and bad that goes with it. It is another “ability” – my superpower. I find I can escape with my words. Move them around. Edit them out and just play with visuals that would never be able to put down on a canvas.

Your work moves between color and black & white, motion and stillness. When you begin a piece, how do you sense which direction it wants to go – and do you ever resist that pull?

A lot of it has to do with what I am feeling. Some days I want to throw colors round. Some days I just enjoy black and white with the shades in between.

Living with cats often means sharing space with quiet observers – beings who sit beside us without commentary or expectation. How do your cats influence your creative rhythm, emotional grounding, or sense of presence?

My new family members, Ban and Oliver, are teaching me to slow down a bit. Just a bit. I have a crazy schedule and sometimes things fall by the wayside – mostly self-care. So, every morning after I feed them, I sit with my phone and listen to a meditation. I am now journaling more while I spend time with them in the early morning. I missed one day in two months. The Fearless Two would rather go torment our poor dog downstairs, so they might have to start meditating with me. Oh, wait. I forgot. They are cats. They can do whatever they want.

Editor’s note: When Elizabeth sent her answers, she added a small postscript I couldn’t resist sharing – her favorite color is blue.

Colorful hand-drawn illustration of stylized cats with expressive faces, crowns, and decorative patterns in soft watercolor tones. — “I used to do illustrations, and here is one I did on cats.”
An cat illustration by Elizabeth Cassidy, shared from her personal archive – playful, imperfect, and full of character. *Image courtesy of Elizabeth Cassidy*
*(Shared directly with Cats Magazine)*

Nine Lives Times Two Plus One

When I brought you home

Terror seemed to take hold of all of us.

I felt so heart sick.

I just wanted you to feel like

This was your safe place.

Forever.



My soft, low-pitched voice

Lulled you two to sleep

The first night.

Up early.

No makeup on.

I came holding bowls 

Filled with nutrition and hope.



You chased me into a corner.

Your eyes pleaded with me

Place the bowls down

Side by side

So, there wouldn’t be any cheating.

This was followed by a head rub.

Empty bowls.

Who needs catnip?



While you catch up on

Your twelve -sixteen hours of slumber

I sit here knowing

I could never give you 

What you are giving me now.

A reason to give up some sleep

And my writing

So, I could remember what

Really matters

In this cold and unforgiving world.

Love.

Just pure love.



It’s good to be 

An ailurophile again.

Meow.