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Mort aux chats

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    • Peter Porter
        Poems:
        • Metamorphosis
        • John Marston Advises Anger
        • Who Gets the Pope’s Nose?
        • The Great Poet Comes Here in Winter
        • The Sadness of the Creatures
        • Mort aux chats
        • An Angel in Blythburgh Church
        • An Exequy
        • Doll's House
        • Max Is Missing
        Broadcasts and articles:
        • Porter on BBC Radio 3
        • Porter on Shakespeare
        • Porter on Les Murray
        Clive James on Peter Porter:
        • Settling for Dust (1970)
        • A Man Called Peter Porter (2004)
        Clive James with Peter Porter:
        • Audio dialogues
        • Video dialogue
        More about Peter Porter:
        • British Council
        • Poetry Archive
        • Wikipedia
      • Jamie McKendrick
    • Poems by Clive James
    • Poetry Notebook
    • Articles on Poetry
    • Lyrics

    There will be no more cats.
    Cats spread infection,
    cats pollute the air,
    cats consume seven times
    their own weight in food a week,
    cats were worshipped in
    decadent societies (Egypt
    and Ancient Rome), the Greeks
    had no use for cats. Cats
    sit down to pee (our scientists
    have proved it). The copulation
    of cats is harrowing; they
    are unbearably fond of the moon.
    Perhaps they are all right in
    their own country but their
    traditions are alien to ours.
    Cats smell, they can’t help it,
    you notice it going upstairs.
    Cats watch too much television,
    they can sleep through storms,
    they stabbed us in the back
    last time. There have never been
    any great artists who were cats.
    They don’t deserve a capital C
    except at the beginning of a sentence.
    I blame my headache and my
    plants dying on to cats.
    Our district is full of them,
    property values are falling.
    When I dream of God I see
    a Massacre of Cats. Why
    should they insist on their own
    language and religion, who
    needs to purr to make a point?
    Death to all cats! The Rule
    of Dogs shall last a thousand years!

     
    (From Preaching to the Converted, 1972)

     

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