Old Age
Being a cat-lover I wrote this little piece some years ago about one of our lovely felines now long gone. I hope it will amuse someone.
I am a feline geriatric
my coat is all shiny and black,
sitting here in the window
I can’t help looking back
to the days when I was a kitten,
when the world was full of fun,
when my mother and I
in the days gone by
chased rabbits and mice on the run.
My father they say was ugly,
a monster all shiny and black,
always feeding and fighting
for what it was worth,
with a big jagged scar on his back.
It was said that he got it one autumn
when he was chasing a toad
he forgot to look left,
and forgot to look right
as he chased it across the road.
He woke up at the veterinary surgeon’s
who lived quite near in the town,
he snarled at the man bending over him
in his cap, and his mask and his gown.
“What.s the matter with me ?”,growled my father.
“I’m feeling all stiff and I’m sick!”
“That’s right”,said the veterinary ,
” you better get better quick”.
“For once let this be a warning
next time you chase a toad
look left and look right,
and prick up your ears
before you cross the road”.
So the old man got himself better,
but life was never the same,
no more feeding and fighting
and growling at vets,
no more chasing or playing a game.
Now I sit here like the old man,
with my coat all shiny and black
but like all feline geriatrics
all I can do is look back.
E.W.Peters.
Nice one Peter, but I’m not at all certain it was just the cat you were writing about – there was more than one reference to being an old codger that was very familiar to me.
Keep on writing my old friend.
Michael
Hi Michael, thank for reading and commenting.Well, I didn’t think anyone would notice the old codger references. Just like the old feline I fall into the same “cat egory”, was 91 a month ago,and often sitting at the window dreaming., and looking back.Thank you once more, Peter.
I kind of thought the same as Kipper, I hope you still have more of your nine lives left.
Congrats on you reaching your tenth decade. I hope you’re feline good and ready for more.
Best as always, Michael.