Cave felem

Three sonnets, one cat

A Cat’s Repose

My cat, methinks, has ceased to be alive.

No signs of movement from his chair occur-

He does not raise his head when I arrive

No matter how I try, he will not stir;

But just as I depart he will arise

Give me a loving yet reproving bite

And fix me with two blue disdainful eyes

Conveying his displeasure at my flight.

He turns and growls, “How dare you end my rest?

Your actions are despicable, a crime!”

As I beg amnesty he leaves his nest

To seek a peaceful lair for his pastime.

There will my cat remain throughout the day

And peril shall befall those in his way.

-Hide and Seek

My furry feline friend serenely slinks

Away to hidden hideaways unknown

To anyone but him, he rightly thinks.

For hours on end he curls up all alone.

And as I search to no avail he’ll grin

For I’ve been known to seek from dusk to dawn-

Afraid that he no longer dwells within,

My fear increases while he slumbers on.

Although he always wins at hide and seek

And though into despair’s dark depths we fall,

He’ll turn up sometime well into next week

At instants inconvenient to us all.

And yet my love continues through this strife

For he’ll be my companion all his life.

-The Feline Scheme

A truth acknowledged widely it may be

That when compared to cats we are supreme-

But to Minou mistaken quite are we,

Our theories are ancien regime.

The fact remains that felines rule us all-

Controlling humans with their furry poise

Achieving slowly their eventual goal:

All humans subject to their subtle ploys.

Yet we pretend to have significance

In the affairs of every living thing,

And blind ourselves with dreams of eminence

When verily we serve a feline king.

And so beware of all their stealthy snares

That pull you in if you’re caught unawares.

• By Marian Zens, Thetford Center, VT

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