No Boots For Christmas

No longer does he sit and paw my leg on Sunday morning,
When I am writing and he sneaks in my room without warning.
No longer does he beg me to get up and let him out,
No longer does he sit and look at me as if to pout.

He doesn't sit and wait for me to pull into the drive,
And I had never understood how he knew it was five.
He no more jumps into my bed and snuggles next to me,
And no more does he lick my fingers, biting tenderly.

No more does he jump upon me when I'm in my chair,
Curling up around my knees as I'm reclining there.
No more does he put his head under my finger tips,
And no more does he chew on them with tender little nips.

He will never sit and beg to see what's on my plate,
And he will never wake me up again so I'm not late.
I will never feel his nose again against my face,
While I'm sleeping, on my pillow, in his favorite place.

So as I sit and meditate at Christmas time this Eve,
I won't have to let him out so he can take his leave.
I won't have to watch the door to see if he is back,
I won't have to wipe his feet before he leaves a track.

Strange how you can get attached to animals like that,
But Boots my cat for all these years will not be coming back.
He died last month from injuries he got from who knows where,
I found him in the bushes barely clinging to life there.

So there's no Boots this Christmas to paw lights upon the tree,
There's no Boots this Christmas he is just a memory.
No chasing balls of Christmas paper all around the room,
No teasing him to run and hide behind the kitchen broom.

I always said that darned old cat was nothing but a pain,
But I would love to have that nuisance back here once again.
Even though he was a pain and irritated me,
I'd love to see his four white paws swiping at the tree.

But time moves on and so do we and nothing we can do,
Can ever change the way things are there's always something new.
So that's what's new this Christmas I have lost my "Boots" the cat,
I wish you Merry Christmas "Boots" wherever you are at.

[ by James A. Kisner © 2002 (PoppyK1@aol.com) -- {used with permission} ]