Cats jump casement cracks at height And drop, soft as foam filled teddies, When the sun goes down at night. Then cats sharpen sets of knives On the age gnarled trunks of maples As darkness grants cats superb sight Roaming cats sense Barn Owl's flight Before his shriek disturbs still grasses When the sun goes down at night. Prowlers pause, as field mice fit tight Beneath the floors of potting houses As darkness grants cats superb sight So tabby tigers make great paces In borders strewn with untamed spaces When the sun goes down at night As darkness grants cats superb sight. Mary Charman-Smith