21 SEPTEMBER 1951, Page 28

kTo Puffin, A White Cat

ON the dark blue rug that makes a midnight sky The creamy saucer fills its heaven like a moon, And over it a cat's white face Basks in a muted ecstasy, Lapping the milky way to paradise With pearled beard and rosy mouth, A cosy mask, lit by contentment from within And by reflected radiance from beneath ; Where, like true benevolence, eclipsing its material cause, The saucer, emptied, still illuminates, While Puffin sits with near-shut, golden eyes, and contemplates Infinity's great 0, the starry silk Of dreams that only can be patched with milk.

Until the want is satisfied, for joy he softly roars,

And kneads his milky firmament with omnipresent paws.

JAMES KPRKIJP.