Cats and Christmas Trees, For Contest

Cats and Christmas trees A cat is instinctive Climbs tall towering trees expertly The garden is his haven His and only his territory Smart and astute he can survive on his own Catching rats, mice and birds, presents just for me Proud, agile and a character Our little ginger tiger Scooby, is a part of our family Instinctively he knows something is happening Ears twitching from front to back Fine-tuned hearing on full alert He waits patiently for his prize to appear As he sets his glowing green eyes on the huge emerald tree They glisten with delight and excitement Crouched on all fours he circles with caution Sniffing every branch with every guarded step The recognition, his scent from twelve months ago Knows instinctively this is all just for him His giant toy is back and can mean only one thing It is that very special time of year Sharpened claws cling to the branches As he manoeuvres his way through A tiger in the jungle climbing tentatively The joy in his eyes, absolute delight Poking his head out looking so cute “I can see you!” He teases If you try to touch him he will hide and retreat Hidden within a ready-made forest Beware of cute furry paws with hooked claws extended Do not disturb or evict You will certainly pay the price, a painful lesson Those claws not so endearing when stuck in your hand Glowing green eyes firmly fixed on the prize Glittering balls too tempting to resist The twinkling of tinsel too hard to ignore The strands of lametta a silvery temptation He is dazzled as the light reflects His ears lower as he selects his victim A sparkly dangly piece of red tinsel If it moves he has to have it, of course Not a kitten anymore, our Scooby He pounces and loses his balance The weight of the cat is too much The tree comes down with an almighty crash The glass baubles hit the wooden floor at speed Deafening sounds resembling a million smashed plates The noise too much for his sensitive ears Poor Scooby tries to scramble out of the door He looks hilarious Back legs going nowhere Running on the spot like a cartoon cat We cry with laughter as he slips on the polished wooden floor Back up goes the tree, year after year Complete with all shiny objects and tinsel We will decorate it beautifully Take pride in the finished result We know it won’t last Animals, they just won’t be told We will shout at our big ginger cat every time he goes near But we know our efforts will be in vain Cats and Christmas trees are a special recipe One you won’t find in a book Every year we take bets on how long our tree will stay up How many balls will be damaged by New Year? We take photos for posterity to look back on and laugh Give our big ginger cat some turkey and lots of fuss Look forward to the next fun filled fifty-two weeks And fill our glasses to the brim with Christmas cheer