Cati Porter is a poet, editor, and community arts facilitator. She is the author of Seven Floors Up(Mayapple Press, 2008) and My Skies of Small Horses (forthcoming from WordTech Editions, February 2016) as well as five chapbooks including The Body, Like Bread (forthcoming from Finishing Line Press, 2016).
She is founder and editor of the online literary journals Poemeleon: A Journal of Poetry and Inlandia: A Literary Journey and Executive Director of the Inlandia Institute, a Riverside-based nonprofit cultural and literary arts organization dedicated to celebrating and preserving the Inland Southern California Region in word, image, and sound.
Cati Porter has lived almost exclusively in the Inland Empire since 1986, moving between Moreno Valley, Ontario, and Rancho Cucamonga, before finally settling in Riverside, where she continues to live with her husband and two sons.
The origin of Disaster
She begins first as a single cell split
from her twin which dives into a shaken
martini and spills willingly down your shirt,
exposing her lack of self-control. She then
pools near your feet to be slipped on
by a passing stranger whose hands curiously
skirt your hips. Once in this position Disaster
foams and ferments, foments and expands;
poses as a guest in a showy wig and false teeth;
brings you silk flowers dusted with pollen
so that when you sneeze
all inhibitions blow out the door.
Her sister has been waiting for hours
in the other room. Whenever Desire shows up
uninvited, Disaster is sure to follow.