Moonlight and Cat Songs

a poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Last night the moon was full
James, the cat and I
sat on the roof
he looked for mice
that lives under the tiles
while I was spellbound
by the power of Luna’s light.
Got up, I did tried to touch the moon
but fell off the roof
and landed on a thorny bush.
When I looked up
the cat was looking down
with a mouse in its mouth.
It isn’t my cat,
James belongs to a dyke
who used to live nearby
till police arrested her for stealing blood
at the local hospital on nights
when the moon was soft as butter.
Left on a picnic table
a sunny summer’s day.
The cat watched me
without a shred of empathy
as I limped into the house
to find some sticking plaster.
When I came back out
the moon wasn’t there
but the far Mountain had
splatters of gold on its top.