Tiger for a Day ©

These others we bring to our fireside
A species apart.. Feline
Balanced as if on a tightrope
Curled in a cushioned circle
Wind round our legs
And our hearts

Arrested in kitten hood
We become their Mothers
In the need to mother ourselves
yet if due to misfortune
the bond breaks
regress to feral survival

tiger for a day merges into weeks
where cushions are but memories
but now and then defying explanation
the wanderer returns looks in the window
pole star or plough their compass

They never confide their secret.