Court of Cats (A Poem)

By Joyce Jacobo

[Author’s Note: A poem composed a while back, based around keywords such as “lawyer,” “cats,” and “woods.” Hope you like it!]

Have you ever known the legend

  related to those fog-filled woods

  near a certain town in the Southwest

      where on every full-moon evening

      small and clever community members

      gather within a secretive glen—

             known only as “The Court of Cats?”

An ancient spirit shaped as a massive oak tree

      presides over the proceedings

      while its thick roots create convenient rows

       upon which all the feline attendants sit

       and listen as a silent jury to each case

Only a single human knows of these strange events

       an old woman           once a lawyer in a huge city

                                  (or so the townspeople say)

          still sharp of mind and sound of judgement who

               on certain evenings receives a telephone call

                         (for the ways of cats and magic are strange)

                      as an invitation to use her skills once more

                                                 deep in the forest

                          . . . which she keeps in strict confidentiality

What might happen there            and why

       I         (as the writer)         can only begin to fathom

          but those same townspeople have also said

             the local cats are always quite content

                   and knowing in their ways

                        so perhaps that

                             is a good clue  

                                 of this harmonious system

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