Walking at noon, cane counting the meter alongside a messy woods, the deadfall hung like severed limbs that sway and teeter as Spring blooms from within Winter’s dead hall.
The cat is a shadow between the trees, sleekly stalking along a fallen limb, the sun is high, the day golden, the breeze steady and smooth, with a feline rhythm.
She must see mice creeping through last year’s leaves as she hunkers down in a stance to pounce like a gargoyle on cathedral eaves— blood better than milk, to her, ounce for ounce.
Lithe, lethal, striped by shadows from the trees as she leaps so high with her claws spread wide, then clutching her prey, the mouse caught with ease, an easy swagger in her Tyger stride.
And I hobble onward, after the kill, seeing in my mind’s eye the acrobat that sprung so lissome, though before so still, mouse now in the praying paws of the cat.
The cat leaves me the head of the dead mouse at my doorstep, her green eyes fixed on me as I limp up the steps, into my house. Is this a Tyger’s contempt? It may be…
Stephen Marshall. Writer, illustrator, layabout. Find him on Amazon, maybe. He has paperback and kindle books listed there. He seems to have a knack for the Romance genre, much to his chagrin. Having pursued Children's literature he is particularly proud of his Children's novel series "Lost And Found", which begins with "Chloe Among The Clover", continues recently with "Stormy Within The Strawberry Patch" and may, in some future potentiality, culminate with "Candice Through The Picket Fence". These are novels for children (including his insistent nephew), but they are also written for adults who are children at heart. His short story collection, "The Eldritch Diaries", centers primarily upon Cosmic Horror and Body Horror, combining Lovecraft's mythos with the motifs of Sigmund Freud. His largest poetry collection, "Broken Crown Kings", contains over two hundred poems and two short novellas concerning the fleeting nature of the world and Man's place within it. Recently he has published a smaller book of poetry concerning Kentucky, Moonshine, and Ghosts called "Moonshine And Spirit Chasers". A much larger collection, entitled '"Nevermore" 99 Rhymes For $0.99' is also available. For those seeking supernatural and folklore, his collection "Weeping Cherry" is available also. The copy in print features original watercolor illustrations.
https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Marshall/e/B07536QKD9?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_fkmrnull_1&qid=1554215427&sr=8-1-fkmrnull
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