Country Cat
One summer day in 1972 a cat was chased up a tree.
Shawn, Red, and another dog,
who's name I have long since forgotten,
were barking furiously with tails wagging,
oh what fun.
It was a black and white cat
dumped off who knows when.
Probably not long ago
because it only hissed and scratched a little bit
as I rescued it from the tree.
The truly wild cats won't let me near.
I placed the cat in a long abandoned rabbit cage
and brought it some bread;
it ate with passion and wanted more.
I left the cat in the cage for a couple days,
hoping it would get used to me
and maybe want to stay.
When I let the cat out of the cage,
to my delight,
it did not run away.
I named her Samantha
after a Disney cat I had liked.
Soon it was time to move again.
All packed and ready to go,
I called out, "Samantha, here kitty, kitty, kitty,"
again and again I called,
then Mom said,
"It's time to go, the cat's not coming."
In desperation, I called one last time.
With no time to spare, Samantha came running
so I got to take her with me.
At the next place,
Samantha proved to be a great mouser.
I watched with fascination as she ate a rate whole,
even the skull, with a crunch, crunch, crunch.
Soon she had kittens.
It was a difficult delivery,
but out came three kittens,
all healthy in spite of one coming tail first.
As soon as the kittens were big enough,
Mom gave Samantha away;
someone she knew needed a good mouser.
She let me keep a kitten
but it was left behind when we moved.
By Michael A. Crane, Jr.
Original Title: Samantha
Original Version: February 13, 2000
Version 2: January 11, 2004
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