Friday Poetry Blogging

Something about this time of year, as the Christmas trees are being dragged to the curb and the lights taken down, and as the temperatures here in Minnesota plummet to non-human depths, just makes me want to curl up on the sofa with a good book in my hands and a cat or two at my feet. So here's an homage to my little foot-warmers, by an author who is clearly a cat person. Have a nice weekend with your own cohabitants, furry or otherwise!

Cat, from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, by JRR Tolkien

The fat cat on the mat
may seem to dream
of nice mice that suffice
for him, or cream;
but he walks free, maybe,
walks in thought
unbowed, proud, where loud
roared and fought
his kin, lean and slim,
or deep in den
in the East feasted on beasts
and tender men.
The great lion with iron
claw in paw,
and huge ruthless tooth
in gory jaw;
the pard dark-starred,
fleet upon feet,
that oft from aloft
leaps on his meat
where woods loom in gloom -
far now they be,
fierce and free,
and tamed is he;
but fat cat on the mat
kept as a pet,
he does not forget.

Update: Looks like Christopher didn't see I'd posted - so you get two for the price of one this week!