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Put that cat down!

by Mary Ellen Smith

Put that cat down!

She squeezes the cat harder
and laughs.
A pitiful meowing
like the sound of bagpipes
escapes from the poor feline’s belly.

Heh heh heh heh heh.
This new laugh of hers is
a little unsettling.

I SAID PUT THE CAT DOWN!

I have to turn my head so she doesn’t see me smile.

I explain to her what the different cat sounds mean.
Happy meows
Sad meows.
I take a mental picture and store it in the
scrapbook of my heart as
I pry her little chubby fingers away from
the cat’s pink underbelly.

At least she didn’t bite him this time!

11/04/2004

Posted on 11/04/2004
Copyright © 2024 Mary Ellen Smith

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Maureen Glaude on 11/04/04 at 01:42 PM

oh boy. Good thing it's not our cat! She'd tell her herself! well said, good point for sure. Kids and animals are great but there are lines to be drawn for everyone's well-being, right?

Posted by Charles E Minshall on 11/04/04 at 11:31 PM

Fun read, but not fun for damn cat I don't think....Charlie

Posted by Rula Shin on 11/05/04 at 01:54 PM

Awww poor kitty! This is a great poem which shows the human capacity to inflict pain, even at those stages of so called 'innocence'.

Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 11/07/04 at 03:25 AM

Very young children do not distinguish between animate and inanimate objects. They are not feeling anything so how could it be hurting the thing they are hitting, etc. They have to be taught to associate pain with certain behaviors. In some cases it is not easy! You have described well a universal in child development.

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