He Lies on the Floor

He lies on the floor at my feet

in front of his new scratching post —

which he ignores.  Lifting a paw,

he washes behind one ear.

The old post is out on the kerb

for the hard rubbish collection.

After two years of two cats

it was shredded. But change upsets him.

So at first the old and the new

sat side by side in the house.

I took each of his front paws in my hand

and raked them down the coiled rope.

I swung the dangling balls of synthetic fur

and pulled the toy mouse on its quick elastic.

He batted the balls a bit, then pounced so fast

on the mouse that he almost got me.

But playing of his own accord

hasn’t happened yet.  He doesn’t

have his sister any more

to compete and encourage him.

He murmurs and stirs, and looks up at me.

Again I see him as panther: that all-black coat.

He is docile though, and becoming happy

to hang with me in our pack of two.

31 Poems in 31 Days (Poewar / Writer's Resource Center). Prompt: Write a draft in paragraphs of prose, then turn it into poetry. (Interesting! The poetry required a lot of tightening. I went from 393 words to 173.)