There was a time
when the brother was called a
cat.
Cool, sophisticated, urbane and smooth
with the veiled threat of incomprehensible violence
right there
visible
like ripples of muscle
under smooth skin
Claws retracted within
nimble fingers on quick moving hands
holding cigarettes
or a saxophone
When he slid into a room
quiet almost
undetected
you knew he was there because of the force of his presence
He stood there still, taking in the scene
His vibe like the purring of a satisfied feline
who had just eaten
and been stroked to a level of satisfaction
that other men could not know.
Yeah
the brother used to be called cat
Hep cat, cool cat, bad mutherfucking cat,
cut you in a New York minute you fuck with him cat
Cruising through with
Music
Like Miles, Monk,
Rashan Roland Kirk,
or Coltrane filtering
through , music you can hear but can’t quite identify.
When he walked,
the sound
of his polyrhythmic footfalls
made the sidewalks drums,
made the streets pathways to the bush,
transformed you back to your ancestor self
Standing guard over the village young,
watching closely the tall grass
where you know the hunter animal lies in wait
for the juicy morsels of flesh to wander by.
Cool mutherfukka just stands there,
still
but you can feel
the tension coiled in him
like high tensile steel
You feel the chill in your blood,
the rush of adrenaline
Fight or flight.
And you be glad you got your Chucks on
so you can book at a moments notice
but no,
transfixed you stand there knowing he has better prey.
He feasts on the night
The pulse flows where only he knows, you are clueless
He knows with animal instinct
Slides up to that beauty that all others have found
both irresistible and unapproachable,
utters a short phrase and she looks at him,
regards him with danger and fascination covering her curiosity
and the next thing you know
they are gone into the night
To his lair
Yes, somewhere in the night he feeds himself
And the Cheshire cat grin finds itself on her face in the morning.
Yeah, they used to call the brother ‘Cat’
Never wonder why
now you know.
He was just
too fucking smooth
to be called anything else!
