Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet of Bedtime Hush to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
A cat sits in the window with her paws tucked in her fur,
And watches over the sleeping street with a slow and steady purr.
Her eyes are two green lanterns in the shadow of the pane,
And they follow every moth that flutters by and every drop of rain.
She has seen the lamplighter come and go and the milkman's midnight round,
And she knows each silent secret that the sleeping town has found.
She knows the gardener's dreaming, and the baker's early dough,
And the wanderer who whistles as he takes the road below.
She never tells a soul, of course, for cats keep every rule,
And a purr is just a promise that she's keeping calm and cool.
So when I cannot close my eyes and the night looms long and deep,
I look up to the window, where my little guardian keeps.
Her purr becomes a lullaby, her tail a curling moon,
And I fall asleep beside her to a slow and gentle tune.
Poet of Bedtime Hush · Hear it on the channel ↗
Commentary
A cat at a window is a calm watcher of the night. In this poem her purr becomes the sound that makes the whole house feel safe.
The cat sits “in the window with her paws tucked in her fur,” watching “the sleeping street” with “a slow and steady purr.” Her eyes are “two green lanterns” following “every moth” and “every drop of rain.” She knows “the gardener’s dreaming” and “the baker’s early dough.”
She never tells the town’s secrets, for “a purr is just a promise.” When the speaker cannot sleep, they look to the window where their “little guardian keeps” watch. Her purr becomes “a lullaby” and her tail “a curling moon,” and the speaker falls asleep “beside her.”