Cat

Te Ao Hou, March 1968, Page 56

Cat Patient, sphinx-like It waits: Muscle-tense, tail slack, Split eyes fixed in stare, Ears pointed stiff, Body long, tapering, smooth Like stone— Hewn with cunning hand. Hark! A flutter of sound In still air. Feline eyes mirror the bird As it hops. Stops, Listens—small head on side, Tail lively with fanned colour Like some exotic dance, movement filled: Eyes keen, It stoops, pecks, stands again— Listening— Insect struggling, weakening In tenacious beak, Then gone—gracefully executed In deep silence, Save leaves rustling, falling, The sphinx too Is silent— Like mossy stone in grass, But tense—the moment is near: Cramped body eases, slightly. Claws unsheath, — supple curves, Then lightning fast One strong long bound It stikes swift; A blur of ebony And all is over. The law is still strong Even here In the steel world.