Musical accompaniment: Haydn string quartet in C op. 1 no. 6 movement 4.

“I sat in the sun on a bench; the animal within me licking the chops of memory; the spiritual side a little drowsed, promising subsequent penitence, but not yet moved to begin.”

Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

A massacre most every day —
the murderer so recherché;
my lovely cat’s affectionate
despite atrocities commit.

Amazing how he’s so polite,
the precious little socialite;
but then when he is all alone
he’s pretty homicidal-prone.

At once he’s kneading on my bed
and getting pat his fuzzy head;
but when my feet touch on the floor,
there is a carcass splayed in gore.

It’s all and well, this getting pet
and having charms of the coquette;
but what about this bloody spine
you left behind, Mr. Feline?

Assuredly, your mewing’s cute
and purring I will not refute;
but feathers disgorged in a pile
suggest activities hostile.

You run to me when your name’s called —
you’re captivating when all sprawled;
however, these cadavers bode
you have a relaxed moral code.

Excusing my naïveté,
these victims do suggest foul play;
it’s evident from what I’ve gleaned,
I am residing with a fiend.