Fluffy, A Cat

So now your tale of years is done,     Old Fluff, my friend, and you have won,     Beyond our land of mist and rain,     Your way to the Elysian plain,     Where through the shining hours of heat     A cat may bask and lap and eat;     Where goldfish glitter in the streams,     And mice refresh your waking dreams,     And all, in fact, is planned - and that's     Its great delight - to please the cats.     Yet sometimes, too, your placid mind     Will turn to those you've left behind,     And most to one who sheds her tears,     The mistress of your later years,     Who sheds her tears to summon back     Her faithful cat, the white-and-black.     Fluffy, full well you understood     The frequent joys of motherhood -     To lick, from pointed tail to nape,     The mewing litter into shape;     To show, with pride that condescends,     Your offspring to your human friends,     And all our sympathy to win     For every kit tucked snugly in.     In your familiar garden ground     We've raised a tributary mound,     And passing by it we recite     Your merits and your praise aright.     "Here lies," we say, "from care released     A faithful, furry, friendly beast.     Responsive to the lightest word,     About these walks her purr was heard.     Love she received, for much she earned,     And much in kindness she returned.     Wherefore her comrades go not by     Her little grave without a sigh."