Smokey: A Diptych

Sinuosity: his back arches.
His eyes dart, his paws adjust.

Pounce, and there's a wriggle on my knee.

He purrs his ineffable tremolo.

His licks are pink-tongued and salty.

Spent, with half-closed eyes,

He falls asleep on my lap.

And from my francophone friend:

Lazybones Monster.

Mushroom Magic.

Such pet names do not touch your essence, O pet.

A wisp of evanescent tenderness.

By day, asleep in your private shaft of sun,

Baby nostrils barely moving.

Prowler and killer by night,

Loping with steely nonchalance.

"Lazy" only to those who do not notice your

Quick green eyes that follow a shadow or stray mote of dust.

"Magic" only to those ignorant of instincts:

The moods of your nightly hunts,

Your paw on my cheek at dawn.