I Got Your Number

What's It? by Bob Parker

Krogar and Klaus, and the House Mouse Mystery
Hunkered down, very un-calm,
Side by side, just before dawn,
Cat by Cat, confide, but stir little

“Where’s that.. WHAT’S IT?”
Growl tooth’ed jaws with spittle

Whiskers a’ twitch, ‘n tails a’ switch,
Two cats, grouse, protest, and grit

“How shall we get at that.. WHAT’S IT?”

Upon the fireplace screen, out come claws,
Topsy-turvy cats crash into brick walls
Topple andirons, ashes, and kindling--
Crazed cats, Krogar and Klaus, go a’ spindling
Leap from hearth askew and a’ yaw,

“There, ..No there!!!!!” confused Cats babble. Agile kitties flip, twist then scrabble,
In the dark hall, brave kitties fall,
Land gracefully upon padded paws.

That's the fastest house mouse either ever saw.

WHAT’S IT jumps from mantle
circles the whole room,
Finds a dark shadow just behind a broom
Waits there while cats’ re-group

"WHAT'S IT?" Krogar stopping to groom--
he leaps on the table, and knocks off the fruit;
Banana, pear, apple, orange meteors fall

So, WHAT’S IT under couch crawls
the chase, Cats resume, into guest bedroom
In a flash the guest bed is disheveled
when zoom, as two cats assault is made -- WHAT’S IT flies up to safety of a dark lampshade

WHAT’S IT hangs upside down, unabash’ed,
Pausing to see kitties’ looks of bad luck that day
Licking their paws, their last trick is played

“WHAT’S IT can fly,” Krogar to Klaus, says in dismay
And with the dawn, the light inter-plays.

Up to the shadowy attic, in a graceful jet,
Flies WHAT’S IT easier
without even a silent shiver
Through the eaves, spies the Cats now so upset,
...can’t even digest their liver

Today, though, there are no regrets:
Krogar and Klaus tell their neighboring pets,
“You may visit our house, with behavior best;
“Pleeze, Do not disturb our house mouse guest: “He is a “‘WHAT’S IT’, "The most unusual, honored, flying houseguest” A poem written for me and first daughter Panther Paws circa 1983; by Robert “Bob” Parker, of Halifax, Massachusetts, Unfortunately, he has passed away. He lived his retirement years on Monpossett Pond in a little converted boathouse, that he shared with several animals, pets and otherwise. Bob would wake up early before his wife, stoke the wood burning stove, in the morning before dawn, and type on his Corona manual, and this is one he chronicled pre-dawn. Thanks Bob, PD