We Call Him Tommy

We Call Him “Tommy” We have a lovely Tom cat He lives most out of doors I wondered if they kick him out Because he loudly snores If I had a lovely “Snowshoe” I wouldn’t let him out to roam He would be totally confined Securely locked up in my home. He is a very big one I’d guess about 12 pounds You see him walking all about As he’s making his girlie rounds He walks more like a lion Shifting shoulders look real mean The other “ferals” give him space Or their snoopy clocks he’d clean Our local “Cat-lady” shouts at him He’s always looking to be “kissed” She aims to keep her gals all fixed There’s always one that’s missed Cat-Lady claims all new borns Currently carry his blue eyes I can’t believe they are all his But I do believe he tries One day he came for lunch It was raining just a bit He came inside to eat Which wasn’t a real great hit For when he comes for breakfast He’d come inside to get the scoop If he didn’t see my lovely wife He goes down the hall to snoop He would stretch his neck to see If my wife might really be in bed He wanted to scratch her furniture But knew she’s smack his head If he saw her there, he would run Down the hall to the living space Hook those big claws into the couch As though to pull it on its face I would try to make him stop But he felt he was to boss If he took a poke or a light smack He must have figured “no big loss” Last fall I got him a Styrofoam house It had 4 inch foam all around It was the best of any and all In this pet shopping area, I found They said the hole should stay real small Or local possums would make it home Tommy checked it out for days Would “mark the spot” but leave to roam Those folks were right on target One morning I went out to see A grizzly mouthed young possum Was looking “gingerly” out at me. I could go on for hours here We looked forward to this pest :o) Sometimes he’d stay for minutes Next time he’d take a 2 hour rest My wife had placed a small rug On our bench out on the deck He loved to sleep up there We never used it, so what the heck This tale went on for nigh a year He came and went on his own clock But then we missed him a couple days I checked up and down the block A few days ago, Cat-lady saw me Checking out the corner storm sewer She said: “You won’t find him there” Of her tribe there now were 8 fewer A few evening before she watched them As they filed in, one by one to sleep But come next morning all were gone Poisoned by a loathsome creep That couldn’t stand it “folks having fun” Watching these fuzzy creatures lives Paying for feed and veterans bills Making them part of our own vibes Tommy’s gone where old tom cats go But his memory lives on still The way I’m feeling now His memory always will. Written by oldbuck 6 27 2020 about a friends passing apart from the current pandemic.