On the Ancestry of Housecats

"Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?"
--William Blake

Her lineage considered, my little cat
Is no great murderess.

Domesticated and surburbanized,
She sups on Tender Vittles from a dish,
Sleeps a lot in sunny spots,
And purrs.

And yet,
Whoever dared to frame this little beast
Included in the plan
Both fang and claw,
The muscled haunch, the lashing tail,
And eyes --
Oriental yellow fire,
Unflinching
And implacable.

And so I watch,
Queasy and appalled,
Each time this kitty calmly dines

On chipmunk sushi.

-- Warren F. O'Rourke, 1991