Cats in Poetry

By A.J. Peters

I’ve never been much of cat person. My mom has a couple of hedonistic tabbies back home whom I love mostly for their eccentric personalities, but I’ve just never bonded with them the way I can with a dog. Maybe it’s a result of childhood scarring from the cat our neighbor pawned off on us that would habitually pee on the electric burners when we weren’t home. But, as Facebook memes make obvious every day, some people are a little beyond fond for their feline companions. So for all you cat-lovers, this one’s for you: a brief history of poets and their cats, with the resulting poetry to match. My favorite?

For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command
—Christopher Smart, Jubilate Agno

See the rest of them on the npr.org.

P.S. After I started looking for a good image to top this post, I can’t stop looking at cat memes. See you later, productivity.