Cat Fight

On a pitch-black night
just a tad less dark
than the darkest of hearts,
the shrills of a wailing babe
pierced the air.

Now a crescendo;
then a fall.

An ominous melange of
growls and hisses.
A lone grunt first,
A spine-chilling cry next.

The shrills of a wailing babe
or so did it seem
till further inquiry revealed
a violent cat fight
on that silent, dark night.

Adult cats
fighting with all their might
in a brutal display of oneupmanship.

More growls,
more grunts,
more hisses,
more shrills
till the noise of two ended
and the voice of one remained.

A deceptive cry.
Was it the victor
now missing his foe?
Or the victim
now bawling in pain?
I knew not.

After the cats had left,
and the noise had gone,
I too went
and lay next to my family
that was fast asleep,
oblivious to the cat fight,
oblivious to the cries.