I’m continuing the music-inspired series of poetry today with this wonderfully cat-focused poem, which was written while I listened to ‘Fancy Shoes’ by Steam Powered Giraffe. I think it’s a nice little mix of cat appreciation and ridiculousness (while still being related to my perhaps loose interpretation of the song) so I hope you enjoy this one!
If you’d like to catch up on this series, the first poem was To Witness, To Behold, inspired by ‘Sowing The Seeds Of Love’ by Tears For Fears, the second poem was And The Rest, inspired by ‘Message In A Bottle’ by The Police, and the third poem was Your Beast inspired by ‘Dread and the Fugitive Mind’ by Megadeth.
Feline Details
You do not notice it, firstly, as a cat.
The black-and-white hair, straggly and wild
in puff-like tufts, is not what you notice.
So many have fallen in love with the eyes,
wide and unblinking and somehow glowing
in the dim light of an evening cul-de-sac.
Not you. You do not notice the colour–
amber–or that the claws are sheathed,
as it steps just so across the pavement,
the tip of its tail twitching to an unheard tune.
You nearly take in the absence of an audience,
not unusual for a cat at dusk, but no.
It is lost on you, just like the finer detail
of the disdainful collection of whiskers
surrounding the cat–and you–a feline sigh.
Instead, with laser focus, you spot it,
the other it: the crown. Atop its little head,
circling the delicate, flickering ears,
there is a twisting crown–perhaps silver,
perhaps tin foil–suitable for fey royalty,
for a monarch of the pixie or fairy variety.
This is not a cat; it is an absurdity,
and that is what you notice.
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Oskar Leonard 
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