Cats domesticated themselves--how
could it have been otherwise?--ten
thousand years ago. Farming brought
grain, which brought rodents, which
enticed cats out of the forest. Impeccable
feline logic connected such exquisite
dining with the large lumbering
two-legged beasts who made such noise,
lived in crowds but were lonely,
and couldn't resist two moon-eyes
glowing at them. That cold stare
above a permanent frown and below
radar ears, the subterranean surf
of purring, day-long languor,
explosive honed rage: all of it
belongs to a calculation that padded
out of timber and brush, sniffed, leered,
hired us, and moved in.
hans ostrom 2021
