Let’s lick our lips together, side by side -
I kiss, you kiss,
Purr-fect.
Like lissom sheets of rippling light,
Tendon-steeled, creeping-toed on arched hams,
Stalkers of poetry,
Dance-floor heavies disdainful,
Gulp-centred to their very bowels of being
Rumin-waiting for their own wise conclusions
Where grey meets clear and nothing begins,
Pursed feet in tidy smiles and skirts drawn round in neat
Periods -
Stop!
With skinfull satisfaction wiped across their faces
Cats carry their pride in bellyachefuls,
The Mr.Razors of the neighbourhood,
Sharpening their nails
On epithets and hard currency,
Chatting only to their own wise God
(Who of course treats them as equal……)
The Earth nudges a fault
And cats run in like mangy turds,
Skulk-eyed slithering, full of guilt,
Venomous at the turn of a name,
Haughty, indifferent, bad-tempered,
Noisy like banshees on perma-wail…….
…….yet tomorrow smooth-tongued they’ll sigh their way to a leap,
Flick up a jump indolently
As if for small boys’ scratches – not worth the penny -
Nod onto the grass,
Bounce to the butterfly or piece of string,
Dive, somersault, and chase as though their brains
Are tied to their motion.
We lead them on and laugh
But the cat is the one that walks away.
1989 ?
I’d be very surprised if anyone enjoys this.
But I like it.
I like the free-flow association, and the moments when (to me) it hits just the right notes.
What’s it about? Cats, obviously, though this was a long time ago and children have overtaken cats in my affections.
