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Cat Gone Two Weeks

This poem was originally published in the 2016 Mendocino Poets in the Schools Anthology, alongside dozens of poems by my students. Recently, I was teaching rhyme to a class of fourth graders when one student raised her hand and said, “Why don’t we read your cat poem?” I was delighted. To be famous to your students is like Naomi Shihab Nye’s river being famous to the fish.

Cat Gone Two Weeks

by Jasper Henderson

Cat be nimble
           Cat be quick
Cat sleep on window
           And then get sick
Cat be happy
           Cat be sad
Cat bites ankle
           Cat is mad
Cat be bored
           Cat be aware
Cat hear noise
           Cat get scared
Cat be fat
           Cat be in love
Master’s home
           Time for a rub
Cat be hungry
           Cat meows
Food bowl refilled
           Cat chows
Cat in the hat
           Cat in a box
Cat in a fight
           Sounds like a fox
Cat is tired
           Cat takes a nap
Cat wins a job
           The better mouse trap
Cat on a fence
           Cat in a hole
Cat in hiding place
           Where did cat go?
Cat has gone out
           Cat is due back
Where could cat be?
           Alas and alack!
Cat has gone missing
           Cat just flat gone
Cat left no clue
           Cat left no song
Cat was so mean
           Cat did us wrong
Cat gone two weeks
           Cat gone too long
Cat came back!
           Just yesterday
Cat sauntered in
           We said hoo-ray!
Cat is the best
           Cat is my friend
Cat needs a rest
           So this is the end