Pawprints
Listen to Jacqueline read her poem ...
Picture by Jacqueline Shirtliff
Like a ghost,
our neighbour’s cat,
cautiously sniffing
at this and that,
slips into our house;
she thinks she’s unseen
but I know exactly
where she’s been.
As she stealthily tiptoes
through each room with care,
she leaves dainty pawprints
that betray just where
she’s picked out a pathway
on piano lid,
through the dust,
then, with a skid,
she’s landed on the lino floor
and padded softly
through the kitchen door.
She heads straight for our puppy’s water tray,
dips her paw, testing,
then stalks away.
Leaving a watery trail behind her,
she slinks up the stairs,
hoping no one will find her,
into the bathroom;
round sink and bath
there’s now a muddy,
pawprint path.
But the best clue,
that shows where her trail has led?
She is, like Goldilocks,
still asleep on my bed!
our neighbour’s cat,
cautiously sniffing
at this and that,
slips into our house;
she thinks she’s unseen
but I know exactly
where she’s been.
As she stealthily tiptoes
through each room with care,
she leaves dainty pawprints
that betray just where
she’s picked out a pathway
on piano lid,
through the dust,
then, with a skid,
she’s landed on the lino floor
and padded softly
through the kitchen door.
She heads straight for our puppy’s water tray,
dips her paw, testing,
then stalks away.
Leaving a watery trail behind her,
she slinks up the stairs,
hoping no one will find her,
into the bathroom;
round sink and bath
there’s now a muddy,
pawprint path.
But the best clue,
that shows where her trail has led?
She is, like Goldilocks,
still asleep on my bed!
This poem is copyright (©) Jacqueline Shirtliff 2024
About the Writer
Jacqueline Shirtliff
Jacqueline is a poet and primary school teacher on the Isle of Man. One of her favourite things is helping children to love poetry and reading and encouraging them to be writers themselves. She lives in a rose-covered cottage near the sea and enjoys gardening, crochet, and playing the tuba and harp, but not all at the same time! You can read some of her other poems in The Caterpillar, Tyger Tyger, Northern Gravy, The Toy, and Little Thoughts Press.
