through Zoë’s eyes
Each space is unique to its occupier. For example, two people will experience a space quite differently. How they perceive a space depends on their mood, their individual preferences for certain tastes, smells, and colours, and their background and memories.
Animals perceive spaces very differently from humans. Their eyes and ears are tuned to a broader spectrum of colour and a different range of sound frequencies.
Zoë watches the air above her
My cat Zoë sees the world very differently from me. Her perceptions are much keener. At times, she will pay sudden and rapt attention to the empty space above her. I puzzle for a moment, look a little harder, and there it is … a tiny moth I would never have seen if Zoë had not pointed the way.
If you have a pet, are you amazed at how differently they experience their space?
Zoe watches the birds in the feeders
Stalking the Wind
~
the cat crouches
on the window sill
puzzles out the night
considers fireflies and the moon
explores the June bug
on the other side
of the screen
pats at a maple key
wandering on the wind
~
when the door cracks open
she is ready
she slips between my feet
into the yard
~
and waits
~
all around her
the crickets
the tickle of grass
the scent of other cats
~
no moment to gather herself
and run
scooped
into the arms of her keeper
scolded inside
dour at the window
~
next time
she will not pause
bewildered
she will leap and run
kin with the fireflies
pursuit of the wind
~
Published as: ‘Stalking the Wind’, Spring 1995, Green’s Magazine XXIV (1)
© Jane Tims
Zoë is gorgeous! I miss having cats, too many allergies in the family to keep one anymore. 😦 The picture you paint with your words in the poem captures the essence of our feline friends perfectly! Sometimes I think cats can see the orbs that we cannot see but which sometimes show up in pictures taken with digital cameras. Who knows?
LikeLike
Barbara Rodgers
August 19, 2011 at 5:58 pm
I always say Zoë is telepathetic. She tries so hard to tell me what she wants. She sits and stares very hard at me, but she doesn’t know that she is trying to communicate with a mere human. Jane
LikeLike
jane tims
August 19, 2011 at 7:26 pm