To a Cat

Mirrors are not more silentnor the creeping dawn more secretive;
in the moonlight, you are that pantherwe catch sight of from afar.

By the inexplicable workings of a divine law,
we look for you in vain;

More remote, even, than the Ganges or the setting sun,
yours is the solitude, yours the secret.

Your haunch allows the lingering caress of my hand.

You have accepted,
since that long forgotten past,
the love of the distrustful hand.

You belong to another time.

You are lordof a place bounded like a dream.