Felis Civitas

By Lou Blodgett

Wed, 13 Aug 2025
  • 259 reads
6 comments
 

I wish I knew,

or could, at least, imagine,

the circumstance that

led her to this state.

The crannies I don’t know.

The tunnels down below.

The warrens packed with

comfort or with hate.

 

She has completed every task.

A lot of it not fun.

One can only ask

what she’s not done.

 

What she hasn’t done.

 

I can’t find her anyhow.

She could still be there now.

 

(She tends to prowl.)

 

She might come by today,

with just one thing to say-

Her signature five-decibel “Meow.”

 

What a time she had.

 

There’s nothing she can’t do.

She’s even crossed a bridge or two.

 

(And she ain’t new.)

 

We maintain feeding stations,

partially through admiration,

and give her kibble when she passes through.

 

Where she hasn’t run.

 

Now, we share that stage of when

we want to be where we have been.

 

(Domestic ken.)

 

Her tale’s too long to tell,

and it’s not for me to dwell

on the host of tangles she’s been in.

Certificate U
Poem

Comments

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Hope she comes home soon

 

Submitted by Lou Blodgett on

She's a skittish gal who makes the rounds to people who help her, too, but I don't know exactly who. I'm sure one of them takes her in over the Winter, which is an accomplishment, because she can't see very well and is very shy. After two years of feeding her, she started coming within a meter of me as I did it, and that was to nudge my hand impatiently as I put treats down. 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thank you for telling me about her. The big marmalade cat who came all skinny to our garden to eat stuff I leave out for hedgehogs, sleeps indoors now, but only sometimes - other times he comes back DRENCHED. He likes to be stroked while in sight of his food bowl, but not really anywhere else and I was so happy when he purred recently - I understand how you felt when your lady cat nudged your hand the first time :0) She sounds quite old and this must be such a worry to you. I know someone here who made friends with a cat who lived by the carpark, and managed to trap him and bring him into her home, and he is a house cat now, and doesn't go outside anymore - perhaps someone near you is looking after her like this, too. I hope she is ok

 

Submitted by Lou Blodgett on

Oh! I wish we had hedgehogs. At first, this cat would shy away after I put down the food. I would stand clear, and then she'd go to it. Then, a year and a half later, she started to nudge my hand- "Release the kibble!"

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

I wish you did, too, for you would write about them for sure (I loved your squirrel stories!) The kind we have make a noise between a grunt and a hiss, a bit like steam engine chuffing? Considering they are nocturnal, I am not sure they can see in the dark very well, as they bump into things all the time like prickly dodgems :0) And the best thing is their eyes which always look like they have thought of something very funny. The female ones make me think of the late Queen, only in prickles not pastel suits :0)

The other, first cat of our house, is fragile and we always worry about her, so I sympathise very much xxx

 

Submitted by Lou Blodgett on

The hedgehogs sound inspiring! The sound they make might seem out of place, which would make them even cuter.