The cat looks me straight in the eye
With her wide cat’s eyes; big, round, green, and slightly wild.
I’m on a stool in the kitchen, after day’s long work,
Finishing my humble dinner, listening to CBC radio.
The cat assesses the situation.
I am stationary – quietly eating.
She fervently desires to jump up and dine with me.
Adjusting paws, dodging head side to side,
Preparing hairy limbs to shoulder the leap,
Whiskers twitching, striped, serpentine tail twisting,
She covets my higher position.
But is the risk too great?
She looks me up and down, sideways, crosswise, backward and forward.
‘Should I jump?’ her tiny feline mind is calculating.
Then,
Just as I turn to take a sip,
She aborts the mission,
Saunters casually away,
As if she never even cared.
a very cat-tly thing to do
“Felis Catus
is your taxonomic nomenclature –
An endothermic quadruped
carnivorous by nature
Your visual, olfactory,
and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills
and natural defenses.
…
A tail is quite essential
for your acrobatic talents
You would not be so agile
if you lacked its counterbalance
And when not being utilized
to aid in locomotion
It often serves to illustrate
the state of your emotion.”
Data?
Correct! His “Ode to Spot.”