The Crazy Cat Lady

21/08/2020 -  Poem a Day Compilation



You could smell her before you saw her

A powerfully pungent odour

Wafting into unsuspecting nostrils

And watering unfamiliar eyes.



As she approached, you’d see her face –

Wrinkled and worn by the years –

Smiling like the cat that got the cream

As she made her way home from the shops.



Her garden was a little neglected,

The lawn could have done with a mow,

The paint was peeling from window frames

And the pavers had seen better days.



She’d turn the key and scurry inside

Like a cat on a hot tin roof

Being careful not to drop the bag

Her babies eagerly awaited.



Her kitchen was meagrely supplied

Save the tins she bought from the store

Which spilled out of cupboards everywhere

Though no one seemed to mind.



Everyone wondered what it was like inside

Though no one dared to approach.

You know what curiosity did to the cat

And the smell would do more than that.



At first nobody noticed

She was prone to not being seen

Sometimes for a few days at a time

Holed up in that forlorn-looking house.



It had become like a cat and mouse game

For the children of the local area

Trying to be the first on the street

To catch a glimpse of the maid.



But this time there was something different,

She had not been seen for too long

The children started to ponder

If it were safe to venture closer.



Their parents thought their silence strange

When they returned suddenly home

“Cat got your tongue?” one asked quizzically,

To the horror of the son stood before them.



A story of some horror unfolded,

Spewing from his mouth in bursts,

About a sight that would haunt him

Until the day that he died.



He let the cat out of the bag,

Told his parents all that he saw,

And the paramedics who attended

Confirmed the sad tale to be true.



The old woman had passed in her sleep,

Her body had lain for some days,

And the babies she kept as companions

Had done what comes naturally to them.



So, look in on your elderly neighbours

And make sure that they are alright,

At least for the sake of the children

And the dignity of your crazy cat friends.