Had a chat with my cat.
Now how about that?
She spoke with a twitch of whisker
and slow blinked her eyes to whisper
that she’s feeling quite content
to be in this moment.
For though she’s told me her life story
of all the times she’s been crowned in glory
by defeating her toy mice —
which is really not a vice —
it’s in the here and now
with no sweat upon her brow
that she’s glad to becuddle me
and from worry be wild and free.
Watch her fur belly rise and fall
and her purr keeps me in her thrall
as I scratch her fluffy chin
and feel peace spread within.

Back in the bad old days of my youth
When I found myself isolated and alone, unemployed... friendless
Had nothing to look forward to
And a body full of pains
I was sitting out in a back shed one day... despairing
How had things come to this I asked myself
And what could I do?
My life had really gone off the rails...
Now I had these two young pet cats 😺
They were my best friends and confidantes
While I'm sitting there... busy despairing
One of the cats comes in and jumps up onto my thigh and quietly just crouches down there
And closes his eyes
It's like he's saying "I'm with you in whatever you're going through, you're very important to me"
It interrupts all my despairing, I smile and think it's rather cute
And then... then the other cat appears, he comes in and he does the exact same thing
He jumps up onto my other thigh and crouches down there and closes his eyes
It's like they were saying "You belong to us, you're our best friend, we don't like to see you unhappy, we're here for you, we're with you in this"
I had to smile, even laugh to myself
I thought it was like God was sending me these animals to cheer me up
To tell me not to give up
That there was still hope in this world/ this life.

The two cats were tomcats
When one of them grew older he went wandering looking for a female probably (wasn't neutered)
He got killed on the road, knocked down
The other developed some kind of mange and would go around crying
In those days people were poor, they didn't spend money on animals
My Dad eventually got sick looking at him and hearing him cry
He threw him in a bag one day and doused him with water
Put some sticks and stones in it and threw him in the ditch (it was cold Winter time)
For the next couple of days and nights you could hear the poor animal crying
Until at last, there was silence
(It was like that scene from the Silence of the Lambs movie
When the young FBI agent recalls her childhood memory of hearing the screams of the lambs).

They were there for me but me, I wasn't there for them.

I carry you in my heart;
in my head; in my bones.
I would have carried you to the earth's end,
but now, you are simply mulch.

I wonder if my cat knows
she’s helped me keep going
a few times
by just choosing to sit in my lap

I miss you every day
Your personality and your face
The way you'd greet me after being away
only momentarily
How you made me feel just after I wake
The weird ways you would lay
Your cheeky smile and how we would play
You changed my life in unquantifiable ways
Gave me a reason to make effort
and build on myself to be better
I hate how we parted in haste
Filled with hostility, upset, lacking grace
I replay it, and wish it was different
But I know it's something I can't change
And that's okay
Because I know you're doing well
Looking after yourself
Bringing joy to the world
Still being who you are with no filter
I keep your photos up to remember
I'll love you forever...

Had to call him Ziggy
It fit so well
Just a coincidence
I quite like
David Bowie

Wouldn't describe him as affectionate
A fuss when home from work
Then off to an empty room
"I want to be alone"

Now I'm put off by needy things
In the end they repel me
So Ziggy has the psychological
Upper hand on me
I'm needy for his affection

Ziggy the strange dog
When having a poo
Looks like a frog

Wish I could say
It's just me
But every day
Someone makes a comment
"He's a handsome boy"
"Where did you get him from"
"Wow, he can jump"

Now I stand in Ziggy's shadow
Someone asked another
"Do you know Nick?"
"Oh yeah,  it's Ziggy's dad!"

Little voice crying
The tortoise is dead

Oh no
There won't have been any pain
The words of comfort try too explain

Tell you what
A nice little box I've got

We can put Tommy inside
A hole in the garden  
Under earth he can hide

I'll make up a song to sing

Poor tortoise dead and gone
Left me here to sing his song

Pretty little tortoise with a shell stuck on
Poor tortoise dead and gone

I've just checked on Tommy
Good news

Not dead but sleeping
I explain

The funeral cancelled

I'm met with disappointment
Then these words do I hear

"Shall we **** him?"