Night Cats

Cats jump casement cracks at height

And drop, soft as foam filled teddies,

When the sun goes down at night.

Then cats sharpen sets of knives

On the age gnarled trunks of maples

As darkness grants cats superb sight

Roaming cats sense Barn Owl's flight

Before his shriek disturbs still grasses

When the sun goes down at night.

Prowlers pause, as field mice fit tight

Beneath the floors of potting houses

As darkness grants cats superb sight

So tabby tigers make great paces

In borders strewn with untamed spaces

When the sun goes down at night

As darkness grants cats superb sight.

Mary Charman-Smith