I don't know if I like cats
Dogs are more my sort of animal
Dogs don't lie as often
But it's nice sleeping with cats
in bed, somewhere down
in the foot area just where the toes
cautiously peep out into a nocturnal world
like watchmen on the wall
of a very old city
Sleep City on the Plain of Dark.
The cat then at a suitable distance
but in a kind of secret understanding
with the toes, these ten watchmen
against the dark, chaos, the void
and the sound of the distant train.

And the cat's sleep creates in me
a deeper sleep,
its way of curling around its
own centre like an embryo
gives a feeling of intimacy
yes, snugness, in this world,
as if it was
a perfectly natural place
to stay in.

Translated by John Irons