Civet

A catlike mammal is the palm civet,
its fur is coarse and the colour of jet;
I haven't seen one over here, as yet.
It isn't an animal one keeps as a pet.

This viverrid comes out at nightfall
to answer a female's mating call
but afterwards its strength may pall.
And its scent glands mayn't enthrall.

It's native to India, Borneo, Bhutan,
Indonesia, Cambodia and Palawan
but there is a species that's African.
It produces a musk valued by man

that's aromatic, used to make scent
that for seduction is possibly meant.
If used excessively it may disorient
and turn out to be a non-event.

In the Philippines, in the days of old,
the mythical story of a civet was told:
it could fight monsters, was very bold
and also sought the Flower of Gold.

He was transformed, folklore said,
into the handsome man who wed
his girlfriend, a gorgeous redhead,
who was given the plant aforesaid.

© Luigi Pagano 2020