For Day 21 of Nanomargarine or whatever…this is for Brendan’s prompt over at Real Toads, 30 in 30. This is about an animal of myth or legend or as I like to call it, after one of my favorite movies, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This is also for Sunday’s Poetry Pantry at Poets United.
Little Kitty
Little kitty,
Do you know you were once worshipped in Egypt
as a goddess?
Did you know you were once considered
the protector of the Pharoah,
that women desiring children
would wear your image around their necks
and that the number of children they wanted
would be represented by the number of kittens
depicted with you?
Did you know as Bastet
you were protector of perfumes,
and medicinal ointments, that you guarded
against contagion and evil spirits and vermine?
In the personification of Bast
you were depicted as a hunting lioness –
the most powerful hunter in Egypt?
As Bast and Bastet you brought together
the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Egypt?
Little kitty,
I would like to dress you in gold jewelry
and let you eat off my plate
and wander at will and have people
bow to you, to have you as the wife of Anubis,
help with preparing my body with burial
and guiding me over the spirit river
to eternal life.
Little kitty who’s name was Belle
and is now entombed in a shoe box
and wrapped in my Duke tee shirt
your grave marked by lilies of the valley
and a double delight rose.
Little kitty, keeper of my heart and
Protector of my soul…
British Museum
kanzen sakura 
Apr 21, 2018 @ 16:37:04
You left me speechless with this one!💖 Beautifully profound write.
Apr 21, 2018 @ 16:38:42
Thank you Sanaa ??
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Apr 21, 2018 @ 16:49:04
💖💖💖
Apr 21, 2018 @ 16:51:09
This is beautiful, Toni. With a nice sounding elegant, royal tone. It breaks away slightly though at her burial, just the right time to sneak into herself as a little girl and her father buried her special cat beside the garage, in a box.
Been there, our dignity was Farah Faucet Minew, one mirning found dead, dying in the flower garden beside the garage, and now buried by a daughter and her daddy in a shoe box beside the garage .
Your poem was so nice, I almost cried at the end. Thank you.
..
Apr 21, 2018 @ 20:10:09
Thank you Jim. We all have our special kitties.
Apr 21, 2018 @ 17:14:02
Cat lovers, gather round this fire because it warms so nicely. My wife and I have have several feline familiars on the other side. One of them, a Siamese, sat just like hieroglyph. Great write …
Apr 21, 2018 @ 17:17:49
Thank you Brendan. And thank you for this wonderful prompt. I too have several kitty familiars on the other side. I can hardly wait to rejoin them somedays.
Apr 21, 2018 @ 19:00:24
And Nanomargarine!
Apr 21, 2018 @ 19:07:26
Yeppers. I never can keep the nano straight.
Apr 21, 2018 @ 19:46:31
Ohhh, by the end I was weeping. (I am another with several loved felines on the “other side”.) But before that I was very impressed with your knowledge of Egyptian mythology (I am steeped in it too). And of course, every kitty does know this! 🙂
Apr 21, 2018 @ 20:06:44
Yes indeed. Most of it I learned from my kitties. I am so glad you enjoyed this.
Apr 21, 2018 @ 20:25:24
Oh, how touching that she was buried in your t-shirt…………keeper of your heart and protector of your soul…………so moving, Toni.
Apr 21, 2018 @ 20:28:16
She was a small kitty. I loved her dearly as I loved all my kitties.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 06:12:16
Little kitty,
I would like to dress you in gold jewelry
and let you eat off my plate..
I loved the way the speaker addresses the kitty, telling her of her heritage, but most importantly, that she was queen of her owner’s heart. (That ending had me in tears, I can tell you)
Apr 22, 2018 @ 14:33:53
I am sorry it made you cry but I am so glad it touched you. That is what we try to do in our poetry, isn’t it? Thank you.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 06:57:10
This is a wonderful story, I learned a lot of the mythology around kittens 🙂 that she was so well loved brought me melancholy. Of a good kind, if there can be such a thing.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 14:35:39
There is a good sadness. The Japanese call it mono aware – the wistful sadness at the passing of (things).
Apr 22, 2018 @ 11:49:15
Love this… you relate back to all the cats, and the lover of cats with this divine telling… but no sarcophagus for felines today… we should name shoe boxes thus.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 14:56:17
A very special cat with a royal lineage! Animals were worshipped for so many good reasons.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 15:47:29
An awesome tale.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 19:08:20
Oh my days! I had no idea…thank you for the history lesson in this lovely tale.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 19:23:46
You are welcome Vivian. Check out the history of Bast/Bastet sometime. I took several semesters of Egyptian ancient history because they were so very interesting. They truly worshipped cats. Tell that to Zeus! Smiles.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 19:34:21
I sure will. Ha! Zeus will scoff at that…after all he’s a ‘god’. Lool!
Apr 22, 2018 @ 19:35:23
??
Apr 22, 2018 @ 19:55:25
A moving and beautiful piece.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 20:41:38
Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who rules as king of the gods of Mount Olympus.
Apr 22, 2018 @ 20:46:26
Yes ma’am I know that. Cats and dogs, God’s and goddesses…they do get into mixes sometimes! Best would have been close to Hera or Minerva goddess wise.
Apr 23, 2018 @ 01:59:52
As you can tell, I posted before I read, and I’m not surprised that we both wrote about Bastet, Toni! It’s just coming up to seven in the morning and my ‘little kitty’ is sitting on the back of the chair watching me write over my shoulder. Luna is somewhere in the house – both worshipped and adored. Luna is the hunting lioness and Mojo the protector. 🙂
‘Little kitty, keeper of my heart and
Protector of my soul’ – oh yes!…
Apr 23, 2018 @ 12:32:42
I am not a bit surprised Kim! Great minds and kitty lovers…
Apr 23, 2018 @ 15:04:48
🙂
Apr 23, 2018 @ 14:45:39
I can hear the Little Kitty answering, “Yes. Yes, I know, child.” Her voice is a powerful hiss–loving, beautiful, dangerous…
I really like the conversational tone.
Apr 23, 2018 @ 14:53:16
Thank you Magaly.
Apr 23, 2018 @ 15:54:44
Amazing the hold that cats have on our hearts…forever…
Apr 23, 2018 @ 16:16:35
??yes they do