Dark October Night

Cats calling in the night
Cries loud and eerie and sad.
They stalk and prance as they choose
No one tells them to claw or snake away,
Or toss a baleful glance to anyone who dares to walk the alley.
They jump to the heights of the tall fence,
So that they can sit and rake their tails in swaying motion
And cast an evil eye on the pitied and mere mortals.
Feline hearts pump as one with those of the witches.
Together they are joined by the task of the night watch,
For blackness is as familiar as their own foul breath.
Jagged teeth edge fetid lips as they yawn unconcerned,
Breathing the stinking air with satisfaction.
No fear mounts in their stealthy souls for the hags
Who chant and sing in uncanny mantras,
At the edge of the woods where the moonlight lies strong.
Cats are of their breed, molded of furtiveness and craft, of sly and sleek
Black as the hard core of night,
Hard as the calloused soles of work-worn feet,
Souls carried by bloodied mangled paws
Down a lone, black, alley street.
They stop to watch the witch at the garbage bin,
Envying her catch, watching her lick the scrap of meat,
Longing for the slimy taste again upon their roughened tongue,
Bloodied with mangled rats and the dark red blood of the moon.
At the midnight hour they soar together in magical suspense.
If you are very careful you may see
The flash of ebony,
Carline and cat outlined in silhouette
Swiftly pass the sharp silver of hard moon,
And disappear into the bottomless depths of hell.
Then, one night again soon
You will see the kitten new,
Slinking in ancient rhythm,
Black, black as the dark coal of the bin.
And just for a moment she will turn,
Watching you with the evil eye of the witch
Who rides and returns to claim her own.

cailin raine