That cat. The one who used to live upstairs?
He loves my son. The two of them were out,
Just being cat and boy. Their list of cares
Was pretty short. And then I heard a shout:
"Don't DO that! DON'T you EVer! DON'T you DARE!"
I came upon the scene by happenstance.
And he was frozen, captured in the glare
She'd trained on him. He didn't stand a chance.
I took his hand, and asked her what he'd done.
A stick, she said. He'd thrown it at the cat.
"And you've misunderstood," I said. My son?
That cat? Perhaps from where she stewed and sat,
Her venom sacs now full of God-knows-what,
She really thought she saw him hurl the stick.
And in her quest to save the kitty's butt,
She came across as just a little sick.
Her checklist for the day could not have said,
"1. Frighten neighbor kids before I'm dead."
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Alysa Salzberg
Melissa Miles McCarter
Scarlett Sumac
jlsathre
Matt Paust
Jowita Bydlowska
Salon.com
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And welcome to cat motherhood M, your fun has just begun ;).
Rated for felines and their protectors.
http://open.salon.com/blog/from_the_midwest/2009/02/10/im_in_love_with_a_cat_part_i
r--but in the next to last line "read" would I think work better than "said."
At least the cat lady has meter to mask her mean. You are generous to help out.
dressed in black?
a big wart
on the face of the hag?
Hers is the shame. She was most immature.
mhold: a rescued kitten! One day, one day, I'll have an apartment where I'm allowed a pet, and where I can depend on living in another year.
Oryoki: this cat sorted out my son the first day they met. They have always adored each other.
Seer: thanks for coming by, as always. The cat belongs to the neighbor upstairs, and has been featured in several posts here. He has some sort of telepathic power over me.
Antoinette: so is the cat. And thanks.
Natalie: hello... I've been a little sleepy lately, are you new here? If so welcome! And thankfully, the lady is not a neighbor (it is a very close neighborhood, and a dozen or so people in throwing distance all know the story of son and cat).
anna1: Thank you. I wanted him to feel protected, and to learn to face an enemy immediately, and talk them down (we were very polite).
Linnnn: I don't think the cat was confused, the paradigm is simple: yelling = run away. And yes, as he (son) allowed me to talk about it that afternoon, I leaned heavily on it-wasn't-you-it-was-her.
Pilgrim: thank you. And yes, from the tone she took, there was some really painful thorn in her craw. Honestly, I was proud of myself, for being so polite to her.
Muse: thanks. I have lived with anger, so I know how it can drive you slowly insane.
Midwest: Me too. I miss having one, I really do. But it's one of many factors in choosing a place to live. The rent is another one.
Con: The last cat I had, I trained to come when I whistled. I figured out how to do it, when I saw my roommates' cats all appear out of nowhere at the sound of the electric can opener.
Catch: As human beings, we all deserve a little meter now and then.
vanessa: ha! No, but I remember disliking her hair color intensely. It was more an emotion than a color, somehow.
Fox: yes, I am actually trying to emulate that short list. I think it has a lot to do with the sparkle in his eyes when he wakes up in the morning (although I could do without his throwing things in the air in the kitchen).
Kate: Are you collecting your couplets? You're starting to build quite a set!
Thank you everyone, I hope I wasn't so late in replying that no one comes back and reads these!
Goodnight!
No, I'm NOT collecting couplets ... they're not very good I'm afraid ... just spur of the moment stuff but after reading your posts I somehow feel inspired to reply in poetry.
Goodnight DB!