sara Etgen-Baker Poet Ode

Notes About The Poem

image from a-zanimals.com

*There are two subspecies of bobcats in Texas: the desert bobcat and the Texas bobcat, barely indistinguishable. The bobcat is about twice the size of a domestic cat. Its bone structure is larger, especially the head and legs, and it’s more muscular with better springing. Its pointed ears are tipped with black fur tufts that help improve hearing." (Source: Wikipedia.com)

My husband and I live in a subdivision on the edge of town, relatively close to the Texas/Oklahoma border.  Small, wooded areas and streams flank the property, making it an ideal habitat for the Texas bobcat.  I often see them early in the morning while walking along the nearby creek bed.  They’ve been known to venture into folks’ backyards at night, taking a small dog or cat as prey. 

poem submitted to "Ode to Cat 2" poetry contest, JCB Brul, sponsor, June 24, 2026

TEXAS BOBCAT

Texas Bobcat—quiet resident of nearly every county,  
you move through forests, plains,  
and the edges of our neighborhoods  
with the ease of an animal built to belong anywhere 
concealment remains.

Your coat—tawny and mottled, with faint bars and scattered spots~  
mirrors the muted colors of scrub and stone.  
Tufted ears lift like alert punctuation,  
your short tail flicks its small, decisive signal,  
and your muscular frame carries  
the steady confidence of a medium-sized hunter. 

While we sleep behind walls and windows,  
you cross rocky ledges, wooded corridors,  
and even urban green spaces with practiced silence.  
Your senses read the dark for rabbits, rodents, birds~  
and sometimes the bold chance of larger prey.

Unseen and adaptable, you are proof  
that wildness still threads itself  
through North Texas—alert, enduring,  
and entirely at home.

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