A cat is a witch’s companion of choice.  A cat is also a household pet.  Both identities sit at ease within the animal’s elegant frame.  Cats are hunters, game players and claw wielders, yet they crave the attention, warmth and sustenance that an owner can provide.

Halloween is the perfect time to explore the complicated bond between cat and human.  Does the human need the relationship more?  There is something about the attitude of a cat that suggests detachment.  A cat could leave at any time.  A cat could also stay forever . . .

Happy Halloween, everyone!  And happy poetry reading!

Cat Shadow

Halloween Poem

Cat shadow, draped
on the cream wall,
jagged angles, peaked
ears to jaunty tail, the
verb is ‘to slink’,

each hunch of her frame
engaged in a nonchalant
arch: this is me, all cat, all
pose, all pet, the motion of
my smooth, slim body on show.

I watch, let this creature
perplex me with grace,
unseat me as mistress of this house.

In feeding her, I feed my
creeping fears of solitude, from the
first gritty particle shaken to bowl.

K. S. Moore

Photo by FraVal Imaging on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA