THE GREAT ESCAPE
Responded to a scream from the kitchen in our house,
Got there to find daughter imprisoned by a mouse:
On a chair she was hand-to-mouth scared of the rodent.
Creature was just as scared but rather impudent.
Brush-chased him round the kitchen twice;
Figured, “ Gotcha, you representative of mice.”
Then in a corner where he went,
Finally brush-trapped my tiny opponent.
Heard him squeak beneath the brush’s bristles :
In his small voice mixed with whistles.
A note of defiance as he climbed through the brush
Then suddenly out and made a rush
For the curtains hanging on the door.
He disappeared quickly off the floor
Into the folds and was seen no more:
Nothing left for us to search for.
Have to admire these miniature guys -
Facing an enemy a thousand times their size
Brush-armed and protecting a daughter -
Midget escaped, laughing at danger and slaughter.
DEATH OF THE CAT
Cats are all the same?
Zimbo was his name
He was an Asian Mackerel,
That’s his colouring term technical.
About nine years old, everyone’s pet
Went missing for days, daughter began to fret
Older brothers found him cold
On road, by a car he’d been rolled
Just one knock clean on his head
And the poor wee thing was dead
Zimbo was laid in garden by the boys
With weeping daughter adding his toys.
I’d been working away for two years
The States, Moscow, Algiers
Missed the kids and their growing lives
Taking them on walks and drives
Missed their exams, prizes, colds and ‘flu s
What birthday dress to choose, what daily news.
It’s I who should have been there at
The final farewell to the family cat
This one event showed clearly to me
How I’d lost my role in the family.
Just a little creature which had to depart ?
I still feel pain from my heart-dart.
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