London Tom-Cat
Michael Hamburger
Look at the gentle savage, monstrous gentleman
With jungles in his heart, yet metropolitan
As we shall never be; who- while his human hosts,
Afraid of their own past and it's primaeval ghosts,
Pile up great walls for comfort - walks coquettishly
Through their elaborate cares, sure of himself and free
To be like them, domesticated, or aloof!
A dandy in the room, a demon on the roof,
He's delicately tough, endearingly reserved,
Adaptable, fastidious, rope-and-fibre-nerved.
Now an accomplished Yogi good at sitting still
He ponders ancient mysteries on the window-sill,
Now stretches, bares his claws and saunters off to find
the thrills of love and hunting, cunningly combined.
Acrobat, diplomat, and simple tabby cat,
He conjures tangled forests in a furnished flat.
