do you remember harry chapin ?
"....my son turned ten just the other day
he said thanks for the ball dad come on lets play
can you teach me to throw ? i said no not today
i got a lot to do . he said hey thats ok...."
when i was growing up cats were seen in a different light
in cartoons and movies a cat howling or rummaging through
garbage would get a brick or old shoe tossed at him or her
and in real life cats were owned by eccentrics and old ladies
i remember a neighbor asking my father to feed her cat while
she was away . the chore was passed to me . the lady was old
times have changed . last night i watched a bit of television
with mom . there was a commercial about an upcoming program
on luxury accommodation for cats whose owners go on vacation
mom said " yuck " ! and later on she told me this story
she took the " a " train to harlem and visited a friend
they were teenagers and worked in the manhattan garment
district . the friend had a baby who was across the room
asleep in a cradle beneath an open window . a cat appeared
on the window sill . from there it jumped into the cradle
and began to lick the babys face . the babys mother ran
over to the cradle snatched the cat by the neck and hurled
it out the open window . six floors up from the street
do that today and you will be indicted by a grand jury