Technê

Contentment’s a banausic art,
Unlike truth and enlightenment.
Since it’s only a kind of craft,

It suffers from the usual
Pejorative diminution
Of status vs., say, wisdom,

Justice, sainthood, metaphysics,
And, in a verbal irony,
Is viewed as mindless, effortless,

Exact antithesis of craft.
Contentment’s purely embodied,
In its stereotype, lazy,

Useless trait of the domesticate
Cat curled up on a couch in sun.
That cats seem often contented,

However, isn’t since that’s life
As it comes for a cat. Study
Cats long enough, put up with them,

Endure their demands and complaints,
Amoral hunting and prowling,
And you’ll see that their contentment

Isn’t a given. It’s their art,
Their craft, a skill they exercise.
If cats spend much of life content

It’s due to the fact contentment
Is a goal for cats. It’s a goal
You might want to work at, perhaps.