Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011 - 1:07 p.m.
The Lion Sleeps This Afternoon
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the autumn is when the squirrels
in my neighborhood are most active
They run around constantly
finding and storing walnuts
for the long cold winter ahead.
Their activity is a race against death
Enter my red cat Taser.
he also notices
the increased squirrel traffic
and waits for one of them to
stray into that magic zone
of where he can outrun
them before they can reach the tree
he has carefully calculated
a complex inner map of where
he can leap out from
various concealed spots
behind bushes, woodpiles,corners,
and ever moving shadows
in order to overtake a squirrel.
he kills one a day
sometimes two.
Squirrels are so wary of him
they no longer walk across the yard
to get from A to B
but take a much longer
convoluted arial route from
tree branches, to roofs, to downspouts to fences to arrive safely.
It's the longer, harder higher route
or its certain death from Taser.
The squirrels hate my cat
because they know he has
killed and eaten their
families and friends
and he would not hesitate
to eat them
One aspect from this dynamic
I find most interesting is the squirrel Early Warning System:
when one squirrel sees Taser
exiting the house
or skulking around the yard
squirrel sentry will give out
an angry yelp and keep repeating
while Taser is still
within his siteline.
As Taser leaves that radar zone'
his presence is picked up by
the next squirrel who yelps out
the red slayer's position
and so on and so on
for quite some distance
Now in the early mornings hours
as I lay in bed I can hear
the distant yelping
of angry squirrels sentries
calling out Taser's ground position
as he makes his way home
from a night of mysterious cat drama.
As the angry squirrels
J'acuse! sirens gets louder,
I know Taser is getting closer
to home.
I can time it so I get up
and make it to the door
just in time to open it
and have Taser be right there
without breaking his stride'
walk right into the house
for his breakfast-
- admidst a cresendo
of angry screaming squirrels
directly overhead
yelping their well deserved hate
at my beloved red cat
who seems absolutley indifferent
he is a marvel
of self assurance
as he walks through
this daily death threatening chorus
everyday-- everyday
I can hear him in the kitchen
crunching on his dry cat food
as the squirrel hate choir outside
slowly winds down.
In a few minutes
Taser will be asleep
on his favourite towel
and the squirrels will be free
to run around and collect walnuts.
When he awakens later in the afternoon
he will look out the windows
and size up the squirrels traffic
and decide whether
he wants me open the back door
or out the front door
at a critical moment
so he can surprise
some unwary squirrel
in the yard
and start the cycle
all over again.
