All the old cat does is sleep,
At least, that's all I
see,
She wakes just long enough to eat,
How tired she must be.
I urge her to get up and move,
Sometimes I push and
scold,
In feline years, she's just a kid,
But in people years, she's
old.
Together we've been through a lot,
This old cat and
me,
Two stubborn souls in one household,
Who sometimes don't agree.
When she was young, I was the boss,
It was my job to make
the rules,
No scratching, clawing, biting, chewing,
HA! She made me
out a fool!
The minute that my back was turned,
She'd have her way
within this house,
And she'd attack the overstuffed,
As if it were a
mouse.
She fancied our expensive drapes,
And she'd strut across
each valence,
Though I'd yell at her, I'd marvel, too,
At how she kept her
balance.
I was so big; she was so small,
Yet she always seemed to
win,
No matter what I said or did,
She'd make me laugh, and I'd give
in.
She brought me once a baby bird,
That had fallen from its
nest,
She carried it in her eager mouth,
Scaring bird and me to
death.
She laid it gently at my feet,
Where it fluttered, then lay
still,
Gingerly I picked it up,
And put it on my window sill.
It trembled; then it raised its wings,
And though
uncertain, it took off,
The cat and I both watched in awe,
As it slowly
flew aloft.
But since my cat is now so old,
She no longer does those
things,
And peaceful, full-blown harmony,
Throughout this household
rings.
She peeks out from her sleep sometimes,
But mostly she just
purrs and snores,
I must admit I kind of miss,
The old cat's doing
more.
Yet she looks so sweet when she's asleep,
I want to hug and
squeeze her,
But should I try that exercise,
I know it would
displease her.
A dependently independent cat,
Who has been and will
remain,
A commander-in-chief that eats and sleeps
Howsoever she
ordains.
She sits at one end of the couch,
While I sit at the
other,
From time to time, we turn our heads,
And look at one
another.
Sometimes I think I see her wink,
I am sure I see her
smile,
Then her eyelids close, and off she goes,
To snore some more for a
little while.
She rarely moves a whisker now,
When she hears a songbird
sing,
And her excitement for the day,
Is peeking out at folks and
things,
I feel that I'm observing
A most contented cat,
Who's exactly where she wants to be,
And is happy where
she's at.
Virginia (Ginny) Ellis
Copyright April
2006
Of course, the picture of the cat on this page is of Moon and Back's young kitten, Gidget, who has a long
way to go before becoming an 'old contented cat.' But cat naps start at
an early age, so by the time Gidget reaches her old age, she will have the
whole routine down pat. My 15 year old cat, Ms Lucy, now is so well
experienced, she can sleep round the clock, without twitching an eyelid.
However, I have caught her smiling in her sleep, so I know she truly is an
'old contented cat.'
