The Leopard of  Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the Lions of Europe and the Panther of Rilke

met and agreed:

tawfeeq, success, is recognising that we are rapacious, carnivorous, wild,

while calmly waiting at the water hole

behind the bushes or the bars or historical precedent, listening, scenting and reading the signs.

Not unlike the tabby at the mousehole patiently, steadfastly, awaiting the tentative probing of the whiskers.