CATS

Twice today a white cat's crossed my path
The first time disguised as Lady Mary Coke
Whom half the world thought beautiful
Making the other half wonder at them,
Saying "She is so very pale. She has
An appallingly bad temper. She is
Entirely lacking in eyebrows. How, then
Can you consider this white cat fair?"
The second time was in an old Spanish book
The hero, raised in England, slowly remembers
His early life in Cordova. His family refuses
To come into focus but he suddenly recalls
A white cat with which he used to play.
My mother would have warned me that
A third white cat is surely on its way.