.
I am torn in two –
Is the black cat there?
You have had your food –
Is the black cat there?
You have had your drink –
He’s as black as Indian ink –
You were half tame when I took you in,
Both of us in need of a friend
To keep us warm through the cold, cold night,
But he is wild and won’t come near
When you are here.
He’s as dark as you are fair
With a cloud of grizzled hair,
Emerald eyes glow in the dark,
Float in space on invisible face –
How many lives does he have left?
Poor hungry feral cat, all alone
Without a home, bereft…
.
©Denise G Allen, 25 April 2013 08:06
Adeeyoyo's Blog 
25/04/2013 at 9:38 am
Denise, what a fascinating story you weave.
If it’s true, then please take care,
You don’t want a nasty fright
When there are two tomcats there
They may be inclined to fight!
John
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25/04/2013 at 9:49 am
I love your poem, John. It’s so apt. The black cat is a recent arrival on the scene. We have had hissing and spitting, but no actual damage. He is also very wild, unused to humans and must know he is an intruder. I think my neighbour leaves food out, but have been wondering if she is unknowingly feeding the rats in the neighbourhood. You can’t win…
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26/04/2013 at 6:59 am
I think the fear for me would be that the feral cat would drive out the cat you obviously love. Can you find a charity like our RSPCA who would take care of him?
John
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26/04/2013 at 7:56 am
We do have an SPCA here. Also Friends of the Cat and in some places an Anticruelty League. The thing is: to catch him. Quite a few people have cats so traps wouldn’t work. Mine (?), I think, was a pet left behind and he is not a fighter from choice. Anyway I haven’t seen the black cat for a few days. Maybe someone has taken pity on him – I hope.
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25/04/2013 at 12:05 pm
Oh my goodness Denise, what a tense situation…
blessings ~ maxi
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25/04/2013 at 12:55 pm
It is so sad when people move away leaving their ‘pets’ behind.
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25/04/2013 at 4:26 pm
Very well expressed in a poem. It is a dilemma that only the cats can solve. We have had a succession of them that have ‘moved in’, finally reached an accommodation with our other cats, and from wanting to attack us on sight gradually became really soppy. I remember with shame that one I ended up loving the most I started off by hating with a passion and planning to kill him.
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25/04/2013 at 4:31 pm
And you have expressed so well the way in which animals creep, sneak into our hearts, Col. Thanks so much.
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25/04/2013 at 4:54 pm
Very nice, Denise. (Though I think is so good that you recognise this for yourself. 😉 )
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25/04/2013 at 5:40 pm
I’ve never been confident (or hardly ever) that I don’t want to hear from other people. I often get embarrassed to hit ‘publish’ in case what I like isn’t what they like. Most often they like what I have doubts about and vice versa. Thanks for liking it – this is one of THOSE! Also the mouse one, Shadow Mouse.
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25/04/2013 at 5:48 pm
As you know I publish a wide range of poetry and I am certain I am unlikely to appeal to all of the people all of the time. Indeed I think I am almost sure to bore, if not offend, some of the people some of the time. But, what the hell. Should I pretend to be other than I am, and for who’s sake? I speak for the muse, not the m(o)use within. 😉
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25/04/2013 at 5:58 pm
Ben, what a super reply – thank you! Love the m(o)use within! Of course you are 100% right. I am sometimes too sensitive – sort of like running around naked, lol! Afraid to bare my brain – and let everyone see just how small it is…
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25/04/2013 at 6:25 pm
And we may all something in the process.
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25/04/2013 at 5:56 pm
I have a grey and white version of that black cat. After about 13 years she now lets me pet her… A little… When she wants something.
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25/04/2013 at 6:05 pm
I had for a short while a ‘mother’ cat. Found homes for her babies, had her spayed. She tamed slowly. But I couldn’t look at her – only out of the corner of my eye. Eventually she would jump up onto my lap and I could stroke her, but never look directly at her. Found her one morning run over in the street.
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26/04/2013 at 6:45 am
That’s so sad, just as you were making progress and gaining trust.
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26/04/2013 at 7:57 am
It was sad, Jake. 😦
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25/04/2013 at 7:46 pm
ah we’ve had a few cats rolling about with our own tom….he comes home pretty beat up at times….i have had to go out and break them up….
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25/04/2013 at 7:57 pm
Things have quieted down here somewhat. My one and the black can crouch face to face and grrrrowl for ever if I don’t intervene, but not as often as before. I think he sneaks in for leftovers too.
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26/04/2013 at 5:05 am
Another wonderfully original poem! Thank you!
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26/04/2013 at 7:58 am
Thank you so much, John. 🙂
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27/04/2013 at 2:13 pm
You’ve actually made me cry… just a little.
Well done!
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