She's cleaning her whiskers <br />And tending her fur, <br />The full-blown ablutions <br />Important to her, <br />She's only inside <br />When it comes on to rain, <br />For she detests water <br />From gutter or drain! <br /> <br />She waits for the sun <br />To dip down out of view, <br />The stars to come out <br />And the breeze to blow through, <br />Then stalks through the garden <br />Head raised like a Queen, <br />And listens to rustles <br />From dartings unseen! <br /> <br />She looks with disdain <br />When I beckon to her, <br />And only runs in <br />For the dish by the chair, <br />But brings me a present <br />At dawn's early light, <br />A rat with no head or <br />A pigeon in flight! <br /> <br />She clambers through bushes <br />And climbs all the trees, <br />Looks down at we humans <br />And does as she please, <br />There's no little creature <br />Immune from her front, <br />Her bell tinkles warnings, <br />The cat's gone to hunt!<br /><br />David Lewis Paget<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/rats-5/
