Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Tale of an Ungrateful Kitty

Thought for the day:  An invisible man married an invisible woman. Their kids were nothing to look at, either.


I've been poking fun at the English language lately, so I thought about writing a short Ogden Nash-type poem using words ending in ough to make fun of the fact that those words have so many different pronunciations.

Well, as they say, the best-laid plans of mice and men ...


I did write a poem, but it isn't Ogden Nash short. (or Ogden Nash clever) Has some ough words in it, but I ended up having more fun telling the tale than fulfilling the original premise. So, here it is, a silly little poem. It's based on a true story, and although I got away with batting my eyes back then, I was young, lithe, and lovely at the time. I'm afraid if I tried to pull that stunt now, my hubby would haul me off to the eye doctor.


A Silly Little Poem

'Twas one in the morning, I vow,
When I heard a cat meow from a bough.
High up in a tree,
He seemed helpless to me.
Begged I, "Please get him down now."

With a frown, my man gave a cough,
Said, "No need to get the cat off.
He made his way up;
He can make his way down."
And I batted my eyes, sure enough.

'Twas sleeting and icy, so rough,
But my sweetie, so tender, so tough,
Climbed up on our ladder,
But that didn't matter;
To the cat, it wasn't enough.


The cat pulled back out of reach;
My man yelled, "Son of a beech!"
He stretched a bit more
To the kitty so poor,
And the cat gave a God-awful screech.



'Twas dark, so I couldn't quite see,
But the cat came tearing past me.
He'd run down my sweetie
And clawed off some meatie,
So I figured in trouble I'd be.

"No more!" my man roared to me.
"Next time, we leave the cats be.
We don't need no damned ladder;
It just doesn't matter.
Have you ever
Seen bones
In a tree?"


Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.

Me? I think I'll do some editing, and just ...

hang around


19 comments:

  1. Om my goodness, that was great and the follow up photo was just perfect.

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  2. That was terrific! A poet you be...
    Catching a cat can be rough and sweetie seemed to have had enough, so if I had been you, a gift I would do, before your angry man said adieu.

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  3. 'Clawed off some meatie'; I know just how he felt. Damned cats; our Freddie is fond of a bit of meatie too, usually from my arms.

    Great fun. Well done Susan.

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  4. Hi, Delores. Glad you enjoyed it. Take care.

    Hi, Starting Over. And a poet you be, too! When we were kids, we'd say, "She's a poet and don't know, but her feet show it ... they're Longfellows."

    Hi, Cro. 'Tis in the nature of the beasties. Thank you, dear sir.

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  5. The son of a beech line made me giggle.

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  6. I remember that poem. Things from 50 years ago have not left my memory, however, where I put something two hours ago are gone forever in my mind.

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  7. Hi-ya, Florida. Glad to give you a giggle.

    Hi, Starting Over. Maybe the poem reminds you of something you read years ago, but this one is brand spanking new. Just wrote every word of it this weekend. Honest!

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  8. Susan, I was talking about your reply to me - you're a poet and don't know it. However, that was more a saying, not a poem.

    I knew the one you wrote for the blog was so totally you. It had your funny, original stamp on it. Sorry for the misconfusion, but I am a confused woman at times, doing my best to confuse everyone around me.

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  9. I love it! Especially the line "Son of a Beech!"

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  10. Hi, Starting Over. DUH! (Me, not you!)What a relief. Thanks for washing the mud out of my head.

    Hi, Kara. Thank you, ma'am.

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  11. Hi, Danielle. Thank you. Glad you liked it, and I hope you're feeling better, now.

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  12. Hello, I'm happy you "stalked" um "followed" me! I'm following you back too! I'm looking forward to reading your posts! Great poem btw!

    Mary

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  13. Hi, Mary. Welcome aboard! Thanks for returning the favor, and I look forward to reading your future posts, too. Glad you liked the poem.

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  14. Great poem! Where on earth did you find a stunt cat? Julie

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  15. We don't need no damned ladder;
    It just doesn't matter.
    Have you ever
    Seen bones
    In a tree?"


    Haha! The cutest ending. Ever :D

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  16. Hi, Julie. Glad you liked it. As for the stunt kitty, I searched the stock pics on the Internet until I found a freebie shot I liked. There's a ton of great pictures out there!

    Hi, Austan. Thanks. Glad you liked it.

    Hi, Sam. The ending kinda wrote itself, because that's pretty much what my husband said! (expletives deleted!)

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