I’m called to serve the gospel of his tail.
How it snakes,
then whips,
then snakes again!
How he thumps
his wormlike orange
creamsicle coat
down on
the instep of my foot—
his gavel, dropping feline justice down
upon my toes,
roping in
my pining limbs!
How he metes out
justice in ripples,
slow then quick,
assents and rebukes
via flourishes of fur—
ambition that would make a nation great
or cruel,
by way of loving
self!
How it slithers, thumps
then waves about,
drawing out my hopes,
my wants—my stars,
casting them to earth!
Poet’s Notes
To see the inspiration for this poem, check out this short Instagram reel. And here he is again, speaking in what appear to be monosyllables, but clearly finishing with a compound-complex sentence. Thoughtful kitty! In addition to a shameless SEO-inspired reference to the Mormon missionary hymn “Called to Serve,” the poem references Revelation 12:4 in the KJV translation of the New Testament.
As always, reactions to the poem are welcome in the comments section below. Thank you for reading!
Wheat & Tares 
Pretty sure the cat doesn’t give it much thought.
Nice human effort.
Thanks for stopping by, thhq. I feel like the tail is inadvertantly expressive of whatever it is he thinks and feels, however simple and straightforward those thoughts are; not necessarily something he communicates with deliberately, nothing so intentional and nuanced as a symphony conductor’s use of a baton. Similar to our facial expressions, which can be deliberate but often are spontaneous, even absentminded. It’s fun to observe it and speculate.