Day 29 of NaPoWriMo: An Ode To Cat

For though he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.

Jubilate Agno, Fragment B, [For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry]

Christopher Smart – 1722-1771

Cat, I adore you for very little reason. 

You twine round my calves when mood strikes,

clamber up a diagonally placed plank, 

(with little grace, but you make it every time). 

Cat, you are black with white tie, white bits 

on your paws. Lying in a splash of sunshine. Watching 

you soothes me, gait neat and liquid, barely made jump 

to the top of the fence, your fluffy presence, 

trying to trip me in the kitchen with excess of joy

For all your affection, you look mildly suspicious

Or perpetually surprised. 

You hardly speak, but make your meaning known, 

You jump on my door handle when you want company.

Some days I pass by an empty room and you 

lift your head from a curled up bundle of body-fur 

gazing at me calmly, warm, sleepy. Cat,

your happiness is contagious. I breathe in when you purr, 

breathe out when you lean into my hands. 

I like how much music you make, noisy 

for a creature of tiptoes. Sometimes 

you catch my hand in your paws and bite gently, 

cat, maybe this is home. Or 

as home as London gets for me.