We think animals
think like us,
pets too.
Not so.
We’re fooling ourselves.
We look into their eyes trying
to see ourselves.
But sometimes
if you look
into the eyes of your cat
you may realize
you’d better watch out.

And I just heard
the octopus
has a fairly small
central brain
but developed extensive brains
in each of its eight legs
and immediately
I get the image
of eight tap shoes
going wild
in all directions
on the stage.
And the octopus handler
who plays soothing music
every morning looks into
those octopus eyes
as he reaches into the tank
arms and tentacles
stroke interlocking
and the octopus
climbs out of the tank
onto the handler
for bonding
but I can just imagine
the future
when the octopus
pulls the handler
into the tank
and eats him for breakfast.