Invasion
My life was perfect—all my people trained
to live their lives at my command
and treat me like the royalty I am,
till yesterday, with entrance grand,
this brutish beast bombarded my domain.
But I’m the king, and so I shall remain.
I showed my teeth, and scowled, and fluffed my tail.
Though half his size, I took my stand:
I drew my claws—my humans intervened—
instead of aid, a reprimand.
I can’t believe they came to his defense!
It seems that I should have first rights,
for, after all, this is my kingly home.
I marked it with some well-placed bites.
Alas the loss of peace in my domain!
Perhaps he’ll leave if loudly I complain;
and so I howl and growl when he comes near,
and yet that stupid beast won’t fight,
but disregards completely my attacks—
his docile mood my ire excites.
We passed the night, and with the morning light,
I woke and stretched to greet the day,
remembering, I shuddered at my dream,
then, horrified, saw where he lay.
It seems I have to share my grand domain,
so I’ll attempt some amity to feign.
Who knows? In time we might become good friends.
(I can’t believe I think this way!)
I’ll never tell my giant furry friend,
but I am glad he came to stay.
Copyright © 2019 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved
Welcome to my series, Incremental Poetry, where each week the featured poem will be one line longer than the one I share the week before. I have no idea how long I’ll keep this up, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Thank you for stopping by.
Scansion:
Streambed’s Ripple
Invented by Lisa Morris, known as Streambed on AllPoetry.com
written in 3 ten-line stanzas
Metered: iambic tetrameter/trimeter
Syllabic: 10-8-10-8-10-10-10-8-10-8
Refrain: the last half of L5 repeats in each stanza (I repeated only the last word or two.)
Rhyme scheme: xaxaBbxaxa xcxcBbxcxc xdxdBbxdxd
About the poem:
It has been interesting to watch our cat respond to the introduction of a full-grown German shepherd into the family, and particularly of how the dog has paid the cat no mind whatsoever. The cat is settling down now, and while they are not best friends yet (it’s only been two days), he does not growl anymore, so I’ll take that as a good sign.
And I couldn’t help thinking, as I observed the dog’s coolness toward the cat, that if we humans would respond with the same indifference to the attacks of our so-called enemies, how many of those explosive relationships could be turned into lasting friendships instead?
Dark Side of the Moon 
Love the concept, these poems are going to get epicly long!
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Thank you. Well, I don’t know how long I’ll keep it up, but I’m not finished yet… 🙂
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So like a cat.
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Yes, the friend who brought our dog to us is experienced with animals and said the cat’s behavior is quite normal, and that they would be friends before long.
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I’ve been there, but the dog was a tiny puppy, and the cat chased her across the kitchen.
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That must have been a sight to see! I was amazed and impressed by how cool this big dog remained throughout the ordeal. I had tried to give the cat a sedative before the dog came, but he wouldn’t take it. Oh well, they both survived. 🙂
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