Richard Gordon-Freeman
The cat and the bird
After Jacques Prevert
The village listened miserably
To the wounded bird’s cries
It was the only bird in the village
And it was the only cat in the village
That had half-eaten him
And the bird stopped singing
The cat stopped purring
And licking his lips
And the village gave the bird
A marvellous funeral
And the cat who had been invited
Walked behind the little straw coffin
Where the dead bird was laid out
Carried by a pretty young girl
Who couldn’t stop crying
The cat said to her
If I’d known how unhappy this would make you
I’d have eaten all of him
And then told you
That I’d seen him fly away
To the very ends of the earth
Too far away to ever return
And you wouldn’t be so distraught
So distressed and full of sorrow
Now I see that one should never
Do things by half-measures
To the wounded bird’s cries
It was the only bird in the village
And it was the only cat in the village
That had half-eaten him
And the bird stopped singing
The cat stopped purring
And licking his lips
And the village gave the bird
A marvellous funeral
And the cat who had been invited
Walked behind the little straw coffin
Where the dead bird was laid out
Carried by a pretty young girl
Who couldn’t stop crying
The cat said to her
If I’d known how unhappy this would make you
I’d have eaten all of him
And then told you
That I’d seen him fly away
To the very ends of the earth
Too far away to ever return
And you wouldn’t be so distraught
So distressed and full of sorrow
Now I see that one should never
Do things by half-measures
Page(s) 2
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