Wednesday 17 August 2016

Chalk and cheese


They knew their place with us
The dog faithful servant
The cat a picky distant cousin
For whom nothing was quite good enough

So they ignored each other
The dog had pleading eager eyes
Cat scowled with disdain and disgust
For we were only her underlings

They were like chalk and cheese
Cat just stared, dog just wagged
Dog always eager for a walk
Cat thankful to be left all alone

They were both keen hunters
Dog found and killed slippers
Cat put mouse carcasses on mat
But winter put and end to all that

Both their eyes would light up 
As lounge room fire was lit
First dog then cat would get near
Supplanting the other there in front

Until the kids would call
"The cat's fur is singeing
There's an awful stink in here, Mum"
As the dog gave his usual happy grin

Image found at www.pinterest.com

This is a true story and with 6 verses I found would fit very nicely into Six Sentence Stories this week too with the prompt 'Fire'.

24 comments:

  1. owwwWOOOOOOO. What a saga! I love every single contrast of it, especially the slippers and the mouse. The idiom "chalk and cheese" is new to me. At first I thought you called the two that. Fun!

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  2. "The Cat that Walked by Himself" | Just So Stories | Rudyard Kipling ...
    etc.usf.edu/lit2go/79/just-so-stories/1296/the-cat-that-walked-by-himself/

    A delightful write.

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    1. Your link didn't work for me, but I found this story here: http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/cat.htm
      And I am forever grateful to you for introducing it to me!

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  3. Nice one Robin, im not a cat person, i grew up with dogs for pets. And as i adult i dont care for pets anymore. i give my care to plants and children

    much love...

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  4. lovely, lovely, specially their choice of preys :D

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  5. Hah. I love this especially because it's a true story. How vividly you describe their personalities. This was such fun to read.

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  6. what a great picture you paint with this I can imagine it all and it brings back memories of my cats and dog doing this when we were young.

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  7. I smiled all the way through - dogs and cats are JUST like that. I love it. Happy dog, disdainful cat, the kids complaining of the smell. Family life. Perfection.

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  8. You bring us into your warm room for a moment of singed cat - what a tale (tail)

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  9. Brilliant, you certainly captured the character of cat and dog.

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  10. Sometimes it pays to play it just a little dumb and cute..We all have to fight for the warm spot by the fire and just that extra bit of love and attention.. A heart filled poem..

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  11. It's odd that I don't like cats, because like the cat in your poem, I like to be left alone.

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  12. Vets in USA had pretty much the same experience as you detailed in Suzie's House today. Thankless was the least of it.

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  13. Oh, what a wonderful share! I love the way you have expressed the relationship between the dog and the cat. It seems, despite all, they got along pretty well together. I am assuming this is a true story...and it makes me smile.

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  14. Perfect capture of a dog and a cat

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  15. The dog kills slippers. Love it.
    =)

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  16. A perfect description of both, just as they even are in our home.

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  17. It's not practical for me to have dogs now, but in the past I have had both dogs and cats, usually together, and have even lived in places where we had fires in winter – so I knew this was a true story. *Grin.*

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  18. They naturally have disdain for each other. But they fill up gaps in our lives in different ways!

    Hank

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  19. Oh my goodness how I love this!!!

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  20. Good one, Robin. Just had to smile at the end! :-)

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