The Cat's Elopement

Once upon a time

I fell in love

With a cat owned

By the lady

Who made rugs

My owner, a music teacher

Offered to buy the cat

From the rug-maker

But she loved her cat dearly

And would not sell her

‘I’m sorry, George,’ my owner said,

‘But for you two to be together

You’d be separated from those

Who love you so much’

Neither my love, whose name was Kora,

Nor I, George,

Wanted to upset our owners

But we thought that we should forge

Some kind of official name

For our love

And so in the dead of night

We leapt through the open kitchen windows

In our homes

And met in the center of town

By the fountain

That was made in Paris

And sent to our little place

Between two mountains

There, we looked up

At the stone statue

At the center of the fountain

And made a wish

That we two cats

Would be married

In the eyes of love

The statue was that

Of a giant dove

And upon making our wish

The dove’s wings cracked the stone

And spread out Kora and I

‘Well, little cats,’ the dove said,

‘Your love has made you

Partners in life

Do you wish for an evening

To dance through the town

Invisible to all

Before returning to your individual homes?’

We said we would like that

Very much

And so music began to play

From beneath the cobblestones

And down from the stars

Came drops of cream

And we found our legs elongating

So that we could stand upon them

And our front paws became hands

With which we could hold each other

And suddenly

We knew how to dance

And so we danced

Through the streets

As the owners

Of dogs and birds

And other cats

Slept

We were unseen

To everyone

But ourselves

Kora and I

And we laughed

As we opened our mouths

To let the delicious rain

Fall in

Out of houses

Yarn spilled forth
And we went from dancing

To chasing after it

To dancing again

When the night was over

We returned to the fountain

And the dove spread her wings

Over us again

And we found that we had settled back

Into feline form

We walked together

Until we reached the spot
Where we had to part

I nuzzled my face

Against the face

Of my love

And new wife

And she nuzzled back

I crept back into

The open kitchen window

And went upstairs

To sleep at the foot of the bed

Where my owner

Was peacefully dreaming

In the morning

When he woke up

He went about his day

Quietly making breakfast

Seemingly unaware

That I was now spoken for

But when I went to enjoy

My normal breakfast

Of dried cat food

I found fresh tuna

And a saucer of cream

In its place

I looked up at him

And he smiled down at me

Saying--

‘I thought you should have

A celebratory breakfast’

He pet my head

As I lapped up the cream

And with a tear in his eye

He said--

‘Congratulations George

What a wonderful thing

To be in love’