Thursday, May. 17, 2012 - 11:07 a.m.
Recall of the Wild
*******************
I went down the street after dinner
to my neibouirs house
to bring them some watercress
which I had gathered in abundance
from my secret hidden stream
tucked in behind
yet more secret places
and as I stood just inside their door
chatting all things wild harvest
careful not to betray any clues
of where this wonderful watercress grows in virgin mats beyond civilization
yet still remain warm and chatty
I saw from the corner of my eye
Taser coming out from behind the garage across the street.
I watched him stealth down the driveway
like a special forces fighter
concealing himself to best advantage
and carting between
shrubs and wheelbarrows
on his way to some cat rendezvous point
with wonderful skill
giving every
discerning eye the slip.
he was a ninga tiger
moving with great economy
and consumate discression
I laughed and told my neibour
who voted Taser the handsomest cat on the street
" watch this- he will pretend he doesn't know me: boy cats never ever acknowledge their human benefactors off the property.. its just what they do and who they are..."
as my neibour nodded in agreement, I decided to demonstrate the validity of this great truth by opening my neibours screen door and sticking my head out and calling out to him across the road in a cartoonish
sickly sweet voice-
" Yoo Hoo !! Hey Taser! "
He froze mid step..
eyes bugged out he locked into my gaze and slowly rotated his head, taking in the scene of me in someone elses house where in his value system,. I didn't belong. here he was frozen mid stride on the lawn across the street motionless as if he was a cast iron ornamental sculpture of a hunting lion
That was pretty funny
to hoax my own cat
from 200 yards..
and then i went back
to chatting with my neibour
idoly nibbling on watercress leaves
and fanning her mouth with her hand
because this was hot zingy watercress
I darted looks across the street
to monitor Taser
who remained eerily frozen
on the lawn yonder
staring at me motionless
Several minutes later
I waved goodbye
opened the screen door and
walked down my neibours driveway
onto the street and walked home
respectfully ignoring Taser the statue
on the lawn across the street-
Ignoring him in case
any of his friends were watching leaving intact his proud
independant wild animal legacy
This morning at dawn
he meowed
to be let in.
I opened the door
and he trotted in
like he usually does
to wait patiently
slowly blinking like Royalty
as I fill his food bowl
he took a few bites
then raised his head
locked his eyes on mine
as if saying
" how did you end up
in my end of the world last night?
I never knew
you even knew
about all that "
There is something to be said
about exploring the distant ends
of your neibourhood cluster
on a mid May evening
before the streetlights
come on..
