3. In the Realm of

there is | within it | a cat | somewhere

that slanted ray of sunlight | the opportunity of

the carpet | a windowledge | the counter

always sleeping on | the raw edge of dream

burrowing within a Xmas tree | arrayed

with light | the operation of the mind retracts

as it extends | to another imposition of sight

the realization of | the comfort of lies

a world so green | thoughts recede into

the past | the clattering of dishes to the floor

in the hurry | shards of light | of pottery

and glass | of spilled water reflecting back

we come upon the object of our | intuition

it may be right | or it might be righted | we

except reality for the purposes of dream | oh

is that how it works? | if you take in a breath

do you ever allow it back out? | watch the

cat | how she moves without flinching

the understanding between a cat | and

reason pertains | as a caricature of thought

you can think it | without breaking it

sometimes at least | stories are told

language is a defect of | communication

the tongue wags | but the hand holds

a momentary | susurration between

silences | abstraction replaced by

distraction | without any focus | you

can take everything in | even a patina of

authenticity | beware he who says

believe me | any subterfuge in a storm | as

the saying goes | everyone lives in the city

of the dead | some call them angels | others

Gothamites | live with the dead | die with

the dead | darkness penetrates any light

they cannot escape its pull | vertical and

descending | even the rats cannot leave

horns blare in the darkness | to mark the

progress of ferries | we move sideways

in the night | the ferry’s horn blares again

the eyes of the cat | draw in the viewer

who sees the cat’s seeing | in place of

what it sees | for this reason the cat is

silent | stealthy | given to long bouts of

sleep | abundant unto the day are its

languid movements | the general tranquility

of | the easy grace of | its steps | a wander

away and back | the cat testifies to the power

of waiting | it waits | it is waiting | it is in the

process of considering having had | waited

it is done with what it has planned | she or

he | as the case may be | does not squander

time | but measures it | time being a type

of music | slow | occasionally stalled | the

cat has accumulated patience | for just such

an occasion | when the time comes it will

be there | patiently waiting because waiting

is a skill | soft | slow | swish | of the tail

the cat staring forward | without exception

after a small long breath | its work is done