Bastet
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
Cats do not need to look at us with eyes
Like hieroglyphs, with sideways glance. We know
Cats’ stance already. Cats have astral skies
Inside their vision. Orbs hold Saturn’s glow
At back of eyeballs from a certain slant.
That eeriness belies their longest fur.
Cats do not deal with humans using cant.
Furred dynasties deploy their strongest purr
When wanting fish or cream. Unlike the walls
Of ancient Egypt cats speak plainly, hiss
And snarl if you hurt them, walk your halls
Like Cleopatra, close star eyes in bliss.
Cats live divinity within, inside
Their beings. Mice know this from fatal glide.
~ Phillip Whidden