Thursday 6 September 2007

DAIZED AND CONFUSED, 1991-2007





















A NOD AND A WINK TO A SLINK: a rare excursion into verse in tribute to my old cat Daisy, AKA The Slink

Goodbye The Slink
My Friend
I Never Felt I Really Got To Know You
But I've been places you've been
A couple of Nottinghamshire's more picturesque villages, for example
One of which where car burning
Seemed to be a local sport
And that coal shed at my mum and dad's house where you used to hide from Monty
When he was feeling particularly feisty
You sort of perked up in your later years
Particularly when you went deaf
And could no longer hear my dad's heavy feet
Or his shouts of things like
"JO! WHERE'S THE YOGHURT!"
"THAT CAT'S CRAPPED UNDER THE PRINTER"
And "I BLOOMIN' HATE ALAN TITCHMARSH!"
That must have been nice for you
And it proves that, like Tom Petty says
Even The Losers Get Lucky Sometimes
Not that you knew who Tom Petty was
And even if you had
You probably would have been scared of the beard
That he has sported in more recent years
Almost as scared as you were when I took you and Monty for a walk
It was a sunny day
In the time before I'd really noticed that you looked a little like Hitler
And before the website catsthatlooklikehitler.com
Which proved that, in the grand scheme of things, you didn't look that much like him after all
You'd been carrying that feather duster around in your mouth
The one that you must have thought was the world's most docile cockatiel
You seemed in a good mood
And I thought it couldn't hurt
A stroll along the lane
Through DH Lawrence country
With two furry pals
All was going well
For about two hundred yards
Until you saw that Norfolk terrier
And decided for some Slinklike reason
To run straight at it
The little fella didn't know what had hit it
But then not many of us ever did





















Under The Paw: Confessions Of A Cat Man.

Talk To The Tail: Adventures In Cat Ownership And Beyond.

6 comments:

Bobcat said...

What a lovely tribute. Brought me to silly sad smiles and a tear.
Cheryl ~ mom to the Beastlies

Wendabubble said...

What a sad occurence and great verse in honour of a moggy passed. I live near Nottingham DH Lawrence country and your emulating him well.

WillowTheWhisp said...

Having been owned by a cat of similar temperament I can understand the feelings expressed and so beautifully put.

kar said...

You wrote a wonderful tribute and beautiful poem. God bless Slink. I lost my furry friend last year and I am still working on a tribute for my "Spooky". You did a great job.

tashacat said...

Thats a lovely tribute and i too had tears in my eyes. its hard losing a friend (i lost my beloved shorty in April) keep your chin up and remember the good stuff
tasha

jmuhj said...

(Echoing the other posters' comments and adding my own sad, tears, deepest condolences and empathy thereto). What a little beauty Daisy was -- and actually, a calico, btw. There's one in our family, too: beloved, totally unpredictable, with Calico Attitude for miles, Maryam is very much loved.