Once had a cat Whose Name Was
By
J.A. Long
I once had a cat named Gingerbread
He never saw red
Until his final days
I once had a cat named Sue
I regrated my mistake
But he never said boo
I once had a cat whose name Buck
He used to think he was a watch dog
But never got mistaken for a duck
Until the day he was sadly lost
I once had a cat whose name was Meg
She never even tried to beg
Once had a cat named Alex
Someone might have thought
He created the phone
Once had a cat named Chico
He had a temper
But he was quick to repent
Even though we did not have a tent
I once had a cat named Vaness
She was so sweet that she
Could have been a Contessa
Once had a cat named Melissa
She was a little a playful
And she always wore a tux
Once had a cat named Carly
She did not like barley
But she did occasionally sing
Even on weekends
I once had a cat named Renee
She was sweet and vocal
Thank God she was not a Wren
She gave me some advice before passing away
Oh, I miss them all!
Whose house this is, I do know
Their lawn's unkept, weeds do grow
Their children unwashed running wild
When teens they'll be a disturbed child
Inside the house a scene unfolds
They've no heat, the house so cold
The young mom's leukemia's worse
Young husband prays as his heart nearly burst
Write an ending like you would like to see it end......
China refusing to kowtow
Trump bends over backward to bow,
Blaming ‘no good’ media
For powwow with India
Whose time in world he feels is now,
Yet, wearing horse's blinds,
He hardly knows nor finds
How his own time’s ticking somehow.
____________________________
Happenings | 01.06.2026 | American, India, political, humour, Limerick
Note: At long last it dawns on Trump that ‘India’s time in the world is now’—suddenly after downplaying the country for long-- imposing 50 percent tariff, calling it a hellhole, cozying up with Pakistan against India, undermining QUAD agenda…Why this late realization? Perhaps, after failing to get a much-anticipated warm hug from China’s XI, reality has dawned on him at last.
Whose cat is that? A small-minded ghoul asks me.
I turn and look, and think “whoop dee whee”
How can he not know that is the Count’s Cat?
He is dressed like Dracula, in drag, and all that.
I think it’s the Count’s cat, I say to the little ghoul.
How do you know? He asks. Is he a simpleton fool?
Look how he is dressed. Just use your eyes, I say.
He could be in disguise he says back, then floats away.
Whose life this is I think I know
Sometimes I am not so sure though
I can't believe that I am here
And now my hair has turned to snow
I walk around feeling quite drear
Knowing that my demise is near
I'd like to go back to the lake
Maybe sometimes later this year
At times I give myself a shake
Thinking this is some mistake
Then I give the kitchen a sweep
Shake and wonder if I'm a flake
From time to time my thoughts are deep
But I have obligations to keep
And now I'd really like to sleep
And now I'd really like to sleep
The smell of
petrichor
and thunder
The taste of
solace
and goodbye
The sound of
memory’s
last rejection
The touch of
love’s
enduring lie
That thing
that slips
between your fingers
A feeling
lost
when foundlings cry
The sight of
vision’s
lost intention
Whose moment
bleeds
— je ne sais quoi
(The New Room: January, 2026)
Betwixt where and whose
Swings the hit and miss of life,
To win and to lose.
He whose focus’s rife
On where the mistake was made
Goes way far in life
And he who dwells on
By whom was the mistake made
Nary far hast gone.
_________________________
Senryu | 15.12.2025 | error, failure, fault, life, loss, success
(written upon the death at age 14 of our beloved shih tsu Max
on Aug. 11.)
Over ~
Over
The Bridge
where they go
To verdant eternal forests
and fields,
To run and leap free
Without leashes, reigns or chains…
All heaven blessed
With no hunger or thirst
While waiting for us.
To those who would imprison me,
I know it's because you are not free.
In prison walls, I'm surrounded,
yet my heart and soul - unbounded.
Between the blades of dewy grass
Mingle the particles of fresh dust
Their colour bleached to grey.
A bird descends and pecks for food,
Finding nothing it ascends today
Climbs higher than the trees, away.
Weeks go by without a soul
Tending the ever growing grass.
I chose that tranquil spot
For them to be blended in the soil
That many years before received
The bleached grey dust of her lover.
The years will effectively combine
Them in the soils embrace and then
She will be lost, untraceable,
Indistinguishable, shall become one.
My parent's will be done.
© Allen Ansell 2025
I read my words and laugh
For are they mine……..really?
They manipulate themselves into my typing hands
Before I can decipher whose words they are.
They come fast and hard.
My fingers are clicking with them.
Zapping them onto a white page with rapid swiftness.
Whose words are these? I ask.
My muse laughs.
She has me under her control.
A ridiculously stupid silly idea to one
Might be a stupendous, brilliant idea to another
Possibility thinkers see a lot of positive optimism
In concepts that other people might totally miss
Whose life it is anyway
Because
He is always smoking
A joint
He doesn't care
About his life
It is very sad
Because he
Doesn't know that
A joint is very
Addictive
And slowly he is
Killing himself
Every single day
Because he smokes
A joint every day
Yes he will
Die with cancer
Also, he doesn't
Know that life
Is also very precious
Yes I am his father
I made him in my
Image
Then I placed him
Here on earth to live
Every single day
Also, I don't know
Where does he get the
Money from
Does he borrow some
Money from
The bank
May 22 Praises to God Bible Meditations Based on Ezra 8-10
Key Verse – Ezra 8:22 …The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
PRAISE BE TO GOD WHOSE HAND
IS UPON US THAT SEEK HIM
Praise be to God for His hand upon us that seek Him with:
Honest spiritual submission
Honourable sacrifice
Humble surrender
Heartful service
Healed spirit
Ezra 9:5 Praise be to the Lord for attending to us
while we spread out our hands unto Him:
Praying for His might
Pleading for His mercy
Presenting His majesty
Performing by His molding
Pursuing through His mentorship
Ezra 10:3 Praise be to the Saviour for making us have
covenant with Him as His:
Saved saints by His grace
Sanctified stewards along His generosity
Steadfast soldiers along His gripping governance
Scripture-soaked students girded with His guidance
Strengthened servants goaded by His goodness and gladness. Amen!
May 22, 2024
Which one is your child? I ask
I turn and see the Minnie Mouse Hat
And the professor glasses
A red polka dotted bow cinches this baby's identity
I do not need to see anything else
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