Mesopredator

[dukealien]

Mesopredator  Title immediately evokes a dinosaur (Mesozoic) but immediately modified...

high
on a haughty perch more of a pteranodon, then?
watching
knowing the Art
of War superiority of defense over offense [fits in later], misdirection, knowing self sustains through a hundred battles...
 
enigmatic
tail twitching 
hiding
what lies nice dual meaning in "lies"
behind
darting eyes yup, that's Sun Tzu alright
 
labelled aloof
demanding
attention spurning
affection
a turn and a bite,  not merely ambivalent, but treacherous... nice (the phrase, not the character described!)
 
but conviction
the heart lacks
teeth included phrase "the heart lacks teeth" is striking
failing
to find purchase  another nice dual meaning - "purchase" as grip(e) but also what is bought, the process of trade in this case denied
 
betraying
we play 
predator
feeling like prey  "we" here is a turn, almost a disappointment - doing well in third person.  But the description of passive-aggressive is spot on.

I reposted this out of the pet poem thread because I am interested to get feed back on the line breaks and whether they are effective.  As I was posting the original and reviewing I kept pushing the line breaks and finding new meanings but wonder if I am too much in my own head.  I did walk back some of the breaks in S3.  Thanks.  

And now, having read the spoiler... okay, it's not a dinosaur (is it?) But in answer to the request for feedback, no, the "new meanings" in the sense of dual meanings certainly worked for me.  They are *not* in your head.  In some places the current spacing vitiates them a bit  - S3 "attention spurning" may be a missing line-end too far, though it stands pretty well as is.

I really think "we" in the last stanza is a mistake, but am probably too invested in the somewhat impersonal description and thrown off by the speaker's sudden involvement.  If that turn was meant, it's certainly effective: don't want to be objecting to the writer's intent rather that its execution!

P.S.  Just noticed a truly grand decoding - the title!  As in,

Me so cuddly
Me so vicious
Me so predator!