Owl

My housemate has bought a kitten
and called him Ahab
after the character in Moby-Dick.

Ahab is the tyrannical captain
of a whaleship, apparently.
I've never read the book,
but sometimes I tell people I have.

Ahab is the strangest creature-
there's long white hair all over his ears.
He looks like an owl.

I found him this morning
hiding behind the toilet cistern,
his eyes like broken biscuits.

I think we will get along just fine.