Why Our Cat Likes Toccatas
by
Timothy Walsh

I know it must have something to do

            with the counterpoint,

the separate strands of melody interweaving,

the simultaneous motions, nimble as

            multiple mice running mazes.

 

Why she likes this, I can guess

because I, myself, have a thing for toccatas.

While she listens, her ears perk up

            and twitch,

whether it's harpsichord or organ

or Frescobaldi played on a small string band.

 

And, yes, she'll also chase a small piece of string,

pursuing and pouncing on the wriggling

            tail end

as if it were a snake or an escaping strand

of melody.

 

She likes plain fugues and canons less

for reasons I'm not quite sure­

except that I, myself, also prefer toccatas

            to fugues or canons.

 

Sometimes, for a really good toccata­

            by Boellmann, Bach, or Gigout­

I turn the volume way up,

and even the spiders seem to enjoy it,

up in the corners of the room

where they weave their webs of fine-spun silk

while the tip of the cat's tail rises and falls,

            rises and falls,
sinuous as a conductor's baton.

 

    From Blue Lace Colander (Marsh River Editions, 2008).
    Used with the author's permission.