Cat Poems

Cat hair!

Cat hair on the bedspread,
Cat hair on the chair.
Cat hair in the casserole,
Cat hair EVERYWHERE!

Cat hair on my best coat,
Even on the mouse!
You live and eat and breathe cat hair,
When cats live in your house.

- author unknown

Cat's Prayer

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray this cushy life to keep.
I pray for toys that look like mice,
And sofa cushions, soft and nice.

I pray for gourmet kitty snacks,
And someone nice to scratch my back,
For windows sills all warm and bright,
For shadows to explore at night.

I pray I'll always stay real cool
and keep the secret feline rule,
To never tell a human that,
The world is really ruled by cats!

- author unknown

Stray Cat

Oh, what unhappy twist of fate
Has brought you homeless to my gate?
The gate where once another stood
To beg for shelter, warmth and food
For from that day I ceased to be
The master of my destiny.

While he, with purr and velvet paw
Became within my house the law.
He scratched the furniture and shed
And claimed the middle of my bed.

He ruled in arrogance and pride
And broke my heart the day he died.
So if you really think, oh Cat,
I'd willingly relive all that
Because you come forlorn and thin
Well....don't just stand there...
Come on in!

- by Francis Witham

Animals Have Souls

I believe that angels have wings
and animals have souls.
How could you not, when you look
Into the eyes of these animal
friends. You know that there beats
a wonderful heart asking for nothing
but to be allowed to love you.
In return they give you unconditional
loyalty, no questions asked.

I know that they are just children
with fur. When you enter your private
world, they greet you with all the
enthusiasm their hearts can muster.
Bright eyes and the joy in their
voices express the fact life will
Be Okay...
Because I love you.

- by Mary Wisniewski

Kittens Kittens!

Kittens kittens everywhere
Kittens chewing on my hair
Kittens climbing up my jeans
Kittens hanging from the screens
There's a kitten on each shoulder
Will they do this when they're older?

Kittens fighting on the chairs
Kittens tumbling down the stairs
There's a kitten on my head
There's a kitten in the bread!
There's a kitten in my shoe
I don't believe we just have two!

- author unknown

"See the kitten on the wall
Sporting with the leaves that fall,
Withered leaves, one, two and three,
Falling from the elder-tree;
Through the calm and frosty air
Of the morning bright and fair."

- by William Wordsworth

Cats Sleep Anywhere

Cats sleep anywhere,
any table, any chair,
top of piano, window ledge,
In the middle, on the edge,
Open drawer, empty shoe,
anybody's lap will do.

Fitted in a cardboard box,
In the cupboard; with your frocks,
Anywhere...they don't care.
Cats sleep anywhere.

- by Eleanor Farjeon
Poem contributed by Leah Hunt

Cat Kisses

Sandpaper kisses
On a cheek or a chin
That is the way
for a day to begin!

Sandpaper kisses
A cuddle and a purr.
I have an alarm clock
That's covered in fur!

- Author Unknown

Ode To A Cat

I think that I shall never see
A cat that sheds as much as thee
Thy fur that sticks is all around
On chairs, on mats in little mounds
I sweep the floor, you shed some more
I wash the rug and you just shrug
You should give thanks I tolerate that
Or you would be a crew cut cat.

- by Marea Needle

Perversity

Confounding my human,
I ask out, having entered;
ask in, having outed,
and nip the naked heel.
Reason me no reasons.
I go by other stars.

- by Peter Neumeyer

No heaven will not ever
Heaven be
Unless my cats are there
to welcome me.

- epitaph in a pet cemetery

Recognition

We are odd indeed
To think that we
Alone of all God's creatures
Are worthy of recognition
For
I am certain beyond question
That when the last day arrives
Our company will swell
With fox, raven, hare, and rat
And
When we are finally admitted
We will see
Sharpening her nails upon His most resplendent throne
God's favorite
Unrepentant calico cat.

- by Mary Margaret Carlisle

_{Note: Mary Margaret Carlisle was born in 1942 in Dallas, Texas, and currently lives in Webster, Texas. This wonderful poem was copyright as both "Odd Indeed" and "Recognition", and the name of the calico for whom the poem was written is "Little Girl". The poet may be contacted at Mary.M.Carlisle@prodigy.net, and permission will be generously granted for it's publication upon request.}

St. Jeremy's Cat

St. Jeremy in his study kept a great big cat,
It's always in his pictures, with its feet upon the mat.
Did he give it milk to drink, in a little dish?
When it came to Friday's, did he give it fish?

If I lost my little cat, I'd be sad without it;
I should ask St. Jeremy what to do about it;
I should ask St. Jeremy, just because of that,
For he's the only saint I know who kept a kitty cat.

- Anonymous

A Taker-in of Stray Cats

God sends some of us a special mission
To take in stray kitty-cats in any condition,
To feed them and give them a permanent home,
To love them and make them our very own.

They chase through the house; their potty box smells;
They seem to have secrets they're unwilling to tell.
They play till exhausted, then curl in your lap,
And settle themselves for a long comfy nap.

Some people are called to great wealth and power,
To run corporations, make big bucks per hour,
But others of us are only asked,
To take in little stray kitty-cats.

I asked God for things of importance to do,
Other than loving a good man and a bunch of kitties too.
He said, "Don't be self-righteous; learn from your mistakes,
And be glad I send kitty-cats and not My stray snakes."

I dreamed when I died I heard St. Peter say,
"What important things did you do each day?"
I felt Heaven for me was an impossibility
And that I should have lived my life much differently.

Then God said, "Come in. Have food and some drink,
And sit here in Heaven by your little cat Tink;
For I gave you one of My most important tasks
When I asked you to be a taker-in of stray cats."

- by Darlene Goff

The Cat

Within that porch, across the way,
I see two naked eyes this night;
Two eyes that neither shut nor blink,
Searching my face with a green light.

But cats to me are strange, so strange -
I cannot sleep if one is near;
And though I'm sure I see those eyes,
I'm not so sure a body's there!

- by W. H. Davies

A Plea for a Cat

Would you care for me, as I care for my cat?
Oh, I know she is treacherous
and her thoughts go no higher
Than mice and milk
and a place by my fire;
She is getting old and fat.

But when I sit alone in my evening chair,
I stroke her fur
I like to know she is there
and to hear her purr.
Of course, you could not care for me
Like that!
I can not purr as flatteringly
as a cat.

- Anonymous

Small Pleasures

As a child she had clutched
the strays to a skinny chest
begging to keep just this one
and was always denied.

Now shafts of sunlight catch random cats curled on antique quilts
or on windowsills between the ruffles of curtains.
She smiles small smiles
and sighs small sighs of contentment,
makes another cup of tea
and ignores the cat hairs in the sugar bowl.

- by Pamela Kosted

The Purry Gates

It seems that I've reached Heaven,
or it's doorstep at any rate,
and been winding round St. Peter's ankles
by the Pearly Gates,
I've plucked the angels' harp strings
and made a merry sound,
But it's plucking at my heartstrings
that you are not around.

So I think I'll sit and wait here,
just outside the door,
And as the souls come floating in,
I'll tap them with my paw,
And when you seek admittance,
they'll rename this place -
It will become Purradise,
and these the Purry Gates!

- author unknown

An Old Russian Prayer

Hear our prayer Lord, for all animals,
May they be well-fed and well-trained and happy;
Protect them from hunger and fear and suffering;
And, we pray, protect specially, dear Lord,
The little cat who is the companion of our home,
Keep her safe as she goes abroad,
And bring her back to comfort us.

- Anonymous

fwilborn@zianet.com

Updated June 21, 2005