Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Going Wild

As we were sitting together afternoon in the room in which we prepare our examinees for one of their oral assessments, my colleague Rachel was telling me about a wildcat which got into the staffroom yesterday. It seems it was a little thing, like a puma, but managed to seriously scratch the arm of one of the security guards tasked to deal with it. The idea of such a bundle of wildness invading our sedate surroundings strangely heartened me, though I must say I felt sorry for the poor guy who had to deal with it.

It put me in mind of that most vicious of all felines, Esther's Tomcat, featured in one of the best of Ted Hughes's early animal poems. I mentioned this to Rachel who immediately tracked the poem on-line, reminding me of how immediately accessible so much wonderful writing is these days. I confess, I couldn't help but read the piece out adopting my best Ted Hughes growl and I reckon I did it rather well. If you don't know the poem do click on the link I've so thoughtfully provided above and enjoy. And if you do know it click anyway and enjoy it all over again.

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