It’s Wednesday again and Biff seems to be AWOL as yet. Nevertheless, I’ll do a Whatnot Wednesday post anyway — mainly because I don’t know what else to do with this verse-of-sorts. 🙂
The following poem is based on a real life experience…
The moon rains silver on my window
pierces the darkness of my eleventh hour,
draws thin slats on my carpet as
warm ambiance enfolds me like a cloak
woven of droopy eyelids, wool-gathering.
My book slips from my hand; sinking into
the fronds of fern casting their shadows
in dark splashes on the carpet
rubbing the rich brown of the old
grandfather clock poised to chime.
Shattering my doze like a snare drum,
the steady rustle I have come to dread.
That MOUSE again!
Intrepid raider of the cat-food dish.
Its toes scratch on the floor tile as it creeps
forward toward its goal – then I hear
that brazen crunching I detest.
It knows – I’m positive it bides its time until
some telepathy reveals to its pea-brain
when I am most vulnerable. Too burdened
and half asleep — can it hear me breathe —
to give chase. Then out it creeps
to fill its emptiness with a cat food snack,
which it erroneously believes
has been provided for its benefit.
I will the clock to strike, to boom
a hickory, dickory, dock. A horrid shock
that causes said mouse to die of fright.
Yet Grandfather has nothing to say just yet,
so I sit here trembling in the darkness
while my cat, a warm ball on my lap,
snores on, oblivious to mouse or man.
Waking, only to glance at me in peeved disdain,
when I screech, “You’re FIRED!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my dreams…
Christine's Collection 
This was absolutely delightful! You captured perfectly the frustration of having a mouse (or any unwanted visitor) in one’s house. I particularly liked the last stanza. Both poetical and amusing. Bravo!
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Thank you. It is indeed frustrating to listen to a mouse eating you out of house and home while your cat snoozes on, blissfully unaware.
Now when shall I expect your WW post to pop into my Reader? 😉
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Yes, you’re right. I have suffered through squirrels in my attic and rats in my chimney. It is a very helpless feeling.
And my WW post should be popping up in your inbox any moment now. 🙂
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Ha. Love the poem and the illustration. Perhaps if you fed the cat less there would be no food left over and the cat would be hungry enough to deal with the mouse! Other people’s problems are always so much easier to solve… ;o)
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Been there, done that. If we fed the cats less, they decide at 5 am that they’re hungry and I need to get up and feed them. As is, they may decide that they want to go outside for a stroll at 5am and check out the weather, see if it’s spring yet. And cats have a way of getting you up… 🙂
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Oh my dear, how I know this. My statement was tongue-in-cheek. All three of my cats have decided to stage a hunger strike. None of them will eat the food I provide, although I’ve tried three changes of diet. This does not stop them from yowling to be fed.
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Our cats are finicky eaters, too. They turn up their noses at beef and most fish. Sigh.
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Every cat I’ve ever had has dislike salmon.. and I’m allergic to it. They must take after my side of the family.
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No beef? Most fish? What will they eat? I’m at that same point with my cats. I just dread their going after the birds!!!
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Right now they’re quite fond of “chicken in gravy.” 🙂
When he’s not sleeping, our Angus likes to hunt. I’ve made it plain that he’s to leave the birds alone and I think he’s caught on (at least around me.) However, he’ll catch mice and gophers (ground squirrels), and even the large, chunky northern pocket gophers.
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Birds and lizards and one bat are the extent of my kitties’ murders.
And snakes.
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When my cats have a bird I screech and “No no no!” blue murder at them. When I see them looking like they’ll chase a bird I make it plain “No birds!” and I think they do finally catch on.
Poor bat! Mind you, a bat might be weak or injured to be where a cat could catch it.
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I worried about that as there were cases of rabid bats in the village years ago and the kittens were too small to have had their rabies shots yet. They actually brought the bat into the house and i caught it under a pan, then put towels around the pan and folded the bat up in them. When I took it outside and opened the towels on the front door steps, the bat was dead. I think perhaps I killed it.
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And scorpions!!! When they were kittens I’d find them batting one around among themselves. Scared me to death.
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What brand is the chicken in gravy? I’ve never seen it.
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They liked Whiskas, but right now they’re enthused about Fancy Feast “Chicken feast in grilled chicken flavor gravy.”
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I’ve been buying Annie, the old cat, Fancy Feast for a year, but have never seen that flavor. I’ll look for it. She would only eat the mousses.. I think she has them confused with mouses! ha.
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A brilliant reworking of the nursery rhyme 🙂
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Thank you.
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Hilarious!
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Thank you.
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