Poem: What The Cat Contemplates While Pretending to Clean Herself

(word­weaver­lynn, you’ll just hate this one!)

What The Cat Con­tem­plates While Pre­tend­ing to Clean Herself
–Nan­cy Bontilier

So atten­tive
to her paws
she seems
lean­ing over
licking
tirelessly
but thinking
not about what dirt
has climbed under her claws.
No, the cat sees herself
stern­ly step­ping to the plate
spit­ting in her paw palms
and grip­ping the bat just so.
With the look of feline indifference
she tends to one final itch
before star­ing down the pitcher
in the last instant before delivery.

When she rubs
her wet cat wrist
behind her fur­ry ear
you’d think she had a spot
of mud there
or a flea
but really
the cat is signaling
the run­ner at first
to stretch that lead a lit­tle fur­ther down the baseline.

By the time
she is perched
on her hind legs
lap­ping at the fur
of her underside
the cat is slid­ing safely
into home.

From On the Eighth Day Adam Slept Alone