Kittens, you are very little, <br />And your kitten bones are brittle, <br />If you’d grow to Cats respected, <br />See your play be not neglected. <br />Smite the Sudden Spool, and spring <br />Upon the Swift Elusive String, <br />Thus you learn to catch the wary <br />Mister Mouse or Miss Canary. <br />That is how in Foreign Places <br />Fluffy Cubs with Kitten faces, <br />Where the mango waves sedately, <br />Grow to Lions large and stately. <br />But the Kittencats who snatch <br />Rudely for their food, or scratch, <br />Grow to Tomcats gaunt and gory,— <br />Theirs is quite another story. <br />Cats like these are put away <br />By the dread S. P. C. A., <br />Or to trusting Aunts and Sisters <br />Sold as Sable Muffs and Wristers.<br /><br />Oliver Herford<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/good-and-bad-kittens/
