For Kelly & Boots

Kelly Fineman of Writing and Ruminating lost her beloved cat Boots recently. You can see a picture of her sweet cat in this post at her blog: R.I.P. Boots.


I’m a cat lover myself—and in the past, I have had to put two sick cats to sleep. Both were well-loved pets and sorely missed when they were no longer with me.


My poetry post today is dedicated to Kelly and Boots.



I’M CAT
By Elaine Magliaro

I’m cat.
Come pat
My head.
I’ll purr.
Please stroke
My thick
And silky fur.

I’m clean,
Serene.
I lick.
I preen.
I’m naughty…
Haughty.
I’M the queen.



Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat
By Thomas Gray

Twas on a lofty vase's side,
Where China's gayest art had dyed
The azure flowers that blow;
Demurest of the tabby kind,
The pensive Selima, reclined,
Gazed on the lake below.

Her conscious tail her joy declared;
The fair round face, the snowy beard,
The velvet of her paws,
Her coat, that with the tortoise vies,
Her ears of jet, and emerald eyes,
She saw; and purred applause.

Still had she gazed; but 'midst the tide
Two angel forms were seen to glide,
The genii of the stream:
Their scaly armor's Tyrian hue
Through richest purple to the view
Betrayed a golden gleam.

The hapless nymph with wonder saw:
A whisker first and then a claw,
With many an ardent wish,
She stretched in vain to reach the prize.
What female heart can gold despise?
What cat's averse to fish?

Presumptuous maid! with looks intent
Again she stretched, again she bent,
Nor knew the gulf between.
(Malignant Fate sat by and smiled)
The slippery verge her feet beguiled,
She tumbled headlong in.

Eight times emerging from the flood
She mewed to every watery god,
Some speedy aid to send.
No dolphin came, no Nereid stirred;
Nor cruel Tom, nor Susan heard;
A favorite has no friend!

From hence, ye beauties, undeceived,
Know, one false step is ne'er retrieved,
And be with caution bold.
Not all that tempts your wandering eyes
And heedless hearts, is lawful prize;
Nor all that glisters, gold.



For a Dead Kitten
By Sara Henderson Hay

Put the rubber mouse away,
Pick the spools up from the floor,
What was velvet shod, and gay,
Will not want them, any more.

You can read the rest of Hay’s poem here.



MUSIC, WHEN SOFT VOICES DIE
By Percy Bysshe Shelley

Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory.
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heaped for the beloved’s bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.