Oscarre The Growler
(Oscarre, the feminine of Oscar)

 

She walked out of a garbage dumpster

with a slight limp

black,

black like a dirty kitten.

 

She never washed up snowy white

like foundling cats in humorous poems.

One time she became white

after she sneaked

onto the kitchen counter,

swatted a half-full bag of flour

to the floor,

and pounced on its contents.

 

She continued to enjoy garbage

with the same gusto

as furry-faced Oscar,

the Sesame Street character

for whom she was named.

She wasn't a Grouch but a Growler.

 

She growled for "Breakfast"

(the first and only word she learned).

She growled while she ate breakfast.

She growled at my two old cats

and tried to steal their food.

 

She growled at my old cats too

as she slapped and spit them

out of their favorite perches and chairs

and settled herself in.

 

She even growled while she purred.

She growled at the vet.

He verified her sex

(she was a girl),

felt a pin in her back right leg

that once must have been broken.

He gave her the required shots

and guessed her to be eight months old.

 

Growling, she scratched me more

in one week

than my other two cats together

had

in five years.

Then she kissed me.

 

Growling and black she came.

Black, she remained.

 

&endash; Rose Ann Spaith

 

Rose Ann Spaith is author of The Cats of the Rose Garden,
a 34-page chapbook of poetry available for $3 plus $1 S&H.
It can be purchased by sending check or money order to Rose Ann Spaith,
159 Delhi Avenue, Columbus, OH 43202.