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Over Which Cat S Shoulders Is Raised the Lintel
To be left alone
to be a cat
a porcelain memento on the mantelshelf
unnoticed un-thought-of even un-heeded
till a hand accidentally stretches
to caress the China paw of a line
all tucked in
out of a Federer need to be willingly unobtrusive
knowing the place of the homely cat
that’s fed as a pet
for the well-being of the spectator
in polite chaste drawing-room court
To take him à rebrousse-poil
and the pretty picture is shattered
canine claws unfurl drawn in offence
the conquering hargne of a Djokovic
the pounce leap and tumble
on the millimetre of the angular line
of brazen self-righteous discomfort
and desire becomes a clay cat
baking in the womb of the mantelpiece
under a creaking crumbling lintel
Revised from a 1986 poem : « Cat on the Mantelshelf »
© T.Wignesan 1986/2012
Copyright ©
T Wignesan
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