Poetry Blog No 134 Four Short Creature Poems- A Cat Comes By at Night, Tree Frog, The Snail, Tiger

FOUR SHORT CREATURE POEMS- A CAT COMES BY AT NIGHT, TREE FROG,

THE SNAIL, TIGER

These four poems were written to be accessible to younger readers but I hope they can be enjoyed by people of any age. A Cat Comes By at Night was written after feeling the slightly odd sensation of being the thing gazed at.

Green tree frogs, even when quite large, can easily walk up a pane of glass searching for night time moths. Larger than most Australian frogs, the Australian green tree frog reaches 10 cm (4 in) or more in length. Its average lifespan in captivity, about 16 years, is long compared with most frogs. Docile and well suited to living near human dwellings, Australian green tree frogs are often found on window sills or inside houses, eating insects drawn by the light. From Wikipedia.

The Snail was originally published in a small anthology that sold about two copies, I think the poem is self explanatory. Tiger is, I guess, about the difference between image and reality.

Cat from Dark Clan RP Thread

                                 A CAT COMES BY AT NIGHT

A cat comes by at night

On softly padded paws.

A cat comes by at night

To gaze through grey screen doors.

With green and slitted eyes

And white-striped, ginger fur

A cat comes by at night-

And I’ve just noticed her.

Green Tree Frog from Frogs of Australia

                                   TREE FROG

Green frog, tree frog, hopping past,

Will you climb the window glass,

Clinging on with padded toes,

Watching where the white moth goes?

Fat frog, damp frog, will you flop down,

With your big grin like a clown?

Hop to where the puddle lies,

Wet your skin and golden eyes?

Tree frog, green frog, will you hide

In the water-pipe outside;

Leaving my bright window light,

To croak on through the rainy night?

Watching where the white moth goes,

Clinging on with padded toes,

Will you climb the window glass,

Green frog, tree frog, hopping past?

Snail from Daily Telegraph Sydney

                 THE SNAIL

Slowly, so slowly the snail

slides past dripping trees,

leaving a silvery trail,

looking for green leaves.

On soft, long stalks it's two small eyes

                 peer at the damp grass where rain fell;

it's ready, at the first surprise,

to draw into its round, brown shell.

Sliding slowly, slowly on it slimy

body with no bones;

sliding slowly, slowly with its spiralled,

                 thin shell for a home...

so it moves; so slow, so slow.

Nonetheless though, it will go

faster than the green leaves grow.

Tiger from Fotolia

                             TIGER

The tiger that is in the book

Has a most impressive look-

With fur of orange and of white

And dark shapes like the black of night,

And eyes that seem to look up through

The page and gaze right into you.

I’ve seen this face so many times

And read this name in tales or rhymes,

And seen him prowling in the zoo,

On film and television too.

I think I know the tiger well.

But then I wonder- who can tell?

For if I walked in jungle shade,

And every time a shadow played

Across my sight I felt the fear

Of wild and watchful hunters near,

Of unseen stalkers, quiet as dreams,

Well- then I’d know what tiger means.