REQUIEM FOR TIGER

REQUIEM FOR TIGER
by Joan Hills

Almighty God please may I have a cat To share your vast eternity with me?
To keep me company throughout the day And spend the evenings curled upon my knee.
A cat to share my night-time and my bed.
To ride upon my shoulder up the stairs As once he rode;
or wait inside the door To welcome me,
and soothe away my cares with purr and mew.
But I forget,
there are no cares in Heaven.
Maybe no night-time too?
No cats methinks?
But how could You debar from Heaven a thing of beauty like a cat?
When You were once a little boy on earth Perhaps You had a cat to hunt the mice In Joseph’s workshop.
And there at Your birth In that poor stable,
did a kitten play Amid the straw with oxen and with ass?
Perhaps Your baby fingers stroked his fur.
I’m sure he did not hiss at You or scratch So small a babe (a cat gives love for love).
Did You and Mary have a ginger cat With all the hues of summer in his fur?
Or was he black with great big golden eyes?
And did he run to You,
and fuss and purr?
A tabby cat,
I think,
would be my choice For Your companion in Your boyhood days.
A cat striped like a Tiger,
with a coat As soft as silk,
and gentle winning ways.
Sweet Jesus,
if You loved a cat on earth I know You’ll understand me when I pray When he comes mewing at Heaven’s door,
Don’t turn a little tabby cat away.
May he be there to greet me when I come To meet You on that last and fateful day.
Dear,
loving Lord,
may I have Tiger Cat?