When My Cat and I Have Tea

My cat becomes a man sometimes and we have tea
When he makes the change he is naked of course so
I lend him clothes since he wears the same size as me

We are both adults now and will no longer grow
(His cat-self grows fatter but that does not matter)
Though as a man he grows taller than when he is
A cat of course so when he changes back the clothes
Seem absurdly large enveloping all but his
Rattlesnake-tail at one end and his pink-tipped nose
At the other as we both marvel at it all

How can he change from man-size-large to cat-size-small
And back again whenever the fancy strikes him?
Yet cat or man everyone who knows him likes him

When he and I have tea we like our privacy
So most times I am the only one who can see
Him turn into a man and I am used to it

But you should see the surprise in my neighbors' eyes
If they see him with his cup held delicately
As he enjoys the feline way my trousers fit
Or when he steps off the porch to sniff at a rose
Forgetting himself in man-shape wearing my clothes

I tell them he is my visiting cousin then
We both laugh at how easy it is to fool men
When after we have tea he is my cat again

+Steven Curtis Lance



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