In my next life
In my next life, I should like to be a cat,
Mewling blind and suckling,
Tiny paws kneading,
Crawling, tentative over my nest mates.
Rough lovely licking,
Visceral expansion and contraction.
Fierce hunger sucking,
Kneading fullness,
Belly-full blissful sleep.
Young cub fearful,
Guarding life,
Fearless.
Lordly spring and claws contract.
Woe to the butterfly,
Woe to the beetle,
Woe to the ghostly wind-tossed leaf
That dares to enter my domain.
Face the wrath of Bastet,
You shall not pass unscathed.
Wary, hunkered in the grass,
Whiskers tremble at the sight.
Wings a-thrumming,
Tight-rope walking
Bright-eyed bird, the morning entrée?
Spring of haunch and
Flight of feathers--
Not today.
A narrow miss.
Oh, yes, I should like to be a cat.
Pheromone-drenched.
Back arched and mournful calling,
Siren luring suitors,
Slinking in the shadows they pad--
One-eared Toms,
One-eyed pirate cats,
Old arthritic grandfather cats,
Young adolescent cats
Shaking from their first shot of
Mother Nature's Elixir
Love-in-a-Gland.
Hotter now, I turn up the heat,
Shimmying, arching.
Sleek tabby, muscled like a god
Rubs past my flanks,
Flattens his ears,
Doubles his size.
Berserker cat,
Big as a badger with eyes that hold no fear.
Battle claws swipe and find their target,
Then my warlord claims his queen.
In my nest thee treasures lie.
Calico, orange, grey watered silk---
Heart expands and heart contracts.
When I am a cat, I shall read great books and
Think great thoughts and
Dream great dreams and
Practice my circus act--
My juggling and leaps,
The way I balance like no others
On a tightrope.
I shall eat and hunt and practice yoga,
And in my old age,
I will dream it all again and remember
My mother, my nest-mates, my warlord, and
My kits.
In my next life, I should like to be a cat,
Mewling blind and suckling,
Tiny paws kneading,
Crawling, tentative over my nest mates.
Rough lovely licking,
Visceral expansion and contraction.
Fierce hunger sucking,
Kneading fullness,
Belly-full blissful sleep.
Young cub fearful,
Guarding life,
Fearless.
Lordly spring and claws contract.
Woe to the butterfly,
Woe to the beetle,
Woe to the ghostly wind-tossed leaf
That dares to enter my domain.
Face the wrath of Bastet,
You shall not pass unscathed.
Wary, hunkered in the grass,
Whiskers tremble at the sight.
Wings a-thrumming,
Tight-rope walking
Bright-eyed bird, the morning entrée?
Spring of haunch and
Flight of feathers--
Not today.
A narrow miss.
Oh, yes, I should like to be a cat.
Pheromone-drenched.
Back arched and mournful calling,
Siren luring suitors,
Slinking in the shadows they pad--
One-eared Toms,
One-eyed pirate cats,
Old arthritic grandfather cats,
Young adolescent cats
Shaking from their first shot of
Mother Nature's Elixir
Love-in-a-Gland.
Hotter now, I turn up the heat,
Shimmying, arching.
Sleek tabby, muscled like a god
Rubs past my flanks,
Flattens his ears,
Doubles his size.
Berserker cat,
Big as a badger with eyes that hold no fear.
Battle claws swipe and find their target,
Then my warlord claims his queen.
In my nest thee treasures lie.
Calico, orange, grey watered silk---
Heart expands and heart contracts.
When I am a cat, I shall read great books and
Think great thoughts and
Dream great dreams and
Practice my circus act--
My juggling and leaps,
The way I balance like no others
On a tightrope.
I shall eat and hunt and practice yoga,
And in my old age,
I will dream it all again and remember
My mother, my nest-mates, my warlord, and
My kits.