Good Golly Miss Molly,
You’re one hell of a cat,
With you, things are never dull,
For you make sure of that!

Be it bringing home live pigeons
Or sending fountains crashing,
Getting out through tiny cracks
To give next door a bashing!

You’re our feline Einstein
For puzzles you can crack,
Like how to open boxes
To get your favourite snack!

You scale cat defences which
Take a long time to prepare,
So that Dad in his amazement says
“How on earth did you get there???”

Cars they seem to fascinate
You’ve jumped in a few of them,
And become a furry stowaway
Up the A3(M)!

You walk round like you own the place,
With bushy tail held high,
When you don’t get fish or chicken,
Your nose goes to the sky!

A bowl of water just won’t do
It must be from a tap,
You insist that we drop everything
When you want our lap!

Or maybe some attention
When an email we must send,
Sitting on the keyboard,
Your bottom parked on “End”!

“A few weeks” is what we were told
We would have you for,
“Just ‘till I am settled”,
Said the young man from next door.

But then you ate a Lily plant
And we thought you could be lost,
We realised what you meant to us,
Our hearts, their boundaries crossed.

Finally then, that was it,
You were here to stay,
A gorgeous, affectionate, lovely cat,
Who was once a stray.

No more going hungry,
For here you’re loved to bits,
Your room is always nice and clean,
Here at the Cat Ritz!

© David Gibson, 2019

A magical place
For a boy to be,
Was a platform
At Edinburgh Waverley!
A1s, A2s, A3s, A4s,
Eager whistles
And slamming doors,
As steam and smoke
Hung in the air,
There were trains
To everywhere!
And if you got
Your timing right,
The ‘Queen of Scots’
Was a glorious sight!
Hauling Pullmans
Heading South,
Left wisps of steam
At the tunnel mouth,
‘The Coronation’,
With lines so sleek,
‘The Flying Scotsman’,
With coaches teak,
Stirred the heart
And moved the soul,
Those mighty beasts
Of steam and coal!
And thus a seed of love
Was sown,
Within a boy
Who now has grown
Into a man
Who still loves trains,
Who though he has
His aches and pains,
Is instantly
Made young again,
By the thought of steam
On Platform 10!

© David Gibson, 2019

I was chasing butterflies.
The sun was shining,
The birds were singing,
And I was full of the joys of spring.
Yes, I know cars are dangerous
But in my fun,
In my exuberance,
I briefly forgot.

You were on your way to a meeting.
An important meeting.
I know you saw me
Or, at least, felt me as your
Tyre hit me, squashed me.
I yelled out in indescribable pain.

No, it wasn’t your fault.
It all happened so quickly.
But you looked in your rear view mirror
And just carried on.
You left me to die.
Did I really deserve to die?

You could’ve turned around,
But you didn’t.
You just left me bleeding
By the side of the road,
Alone and terrified.

Is business so unforgiving,
That they won’t understand your being late?
Not just for a cat,
But for a family too?
A cat much loved
By little children,
A cat who brings so much comfort
To a woman who’s just lost her Dad?

If you had stopped,
At least you would’ve done your best.
I stress again. It wasn’t your fault.
I was just doing what cats do.
Had you stopped,
My family would’ve understood.
They would’ve thanked you
And not blamed you.
You’d have given me a fighting chance.

As it was, I was lucky.
Very lucky.
For a neighbour saw me
And rushed me to the local vet.
It was touch and go,
But eventually I pulled through.

Yet you’ll never know I made it,
For you screwed up
Your chance to be a hero.
Instead I will haunt your dreams.

© David Gibson, 2019

Oh Tibby, you were Trouble,
With a capital ‘T’,
Oh Tibby, you were Trouble,
That was plain to see!
 
You wondered in, as a stray,
And a little girl did beg
To her Dad if you could stay,
As you eyed up his trouser leg!
 
If not shooting up a chimney
You were skating round the floor,
Or chasing round the garden,
Or grabbing heels behind the door!
 
Your claws, you liked to sharpen,
Whilst on his stool Dad sat,
Except one day you went too high,
You were such a naughty cat!
 
You had a way to tell the time
And at the corner you did wait,
For the little girl who loved you so
Then you’d race her to the gate!
 
Then the little girl she grew up
And had to move away,
But rest assured, Dear Tibby,
You were thought of every day!
 
Even now she smiles,
Though fifty years have passed,
Remembering her Tibby,
Trouble to the last!
 
© David Gibson, 2019

There have been many times in your life
When you have chosen to ignore me,
Although I seek to give you good advice.
I do so because I know you,
More deeply than a friend,
More intimately than a lover,
For I am you!
 
I am your dreams, your hopes, your aspirations.
I am the part of you that seeks to fly like a bird,
When you are chained to the ground by your
“Must have’s” and your “should do’s.”
Obligations that you yourself create,
Through seeking to be like everyone else,
Through seeking to please everyone else,
Except yourself.
 
Some people call me their God,
Others, their Heart, or their Higher Self.
What you call me is not important,
That you listen to me is.
For what I tell you to do may go against
The “possible”, or the “realistic.”
 
I may tell you to travel up a road
That everyone else is coming down.
I may tell you to “go!”
When everyone else says “stay!”
Fear not my child,
For I know exactly where I am taking you.
Just trust that when you listen to my voice,
Things will happen.
 
I will give you signs that you are going
In the right direction,
You will know what is meant to be,
And what is not.
Your despair will turn to joy,
Your darkness to light.
Trust in me,
Listen to me,
And I will make your life worth living!
 
© David Gibson, 1997
 

More Articles ...