The Christmas Cat

The Christmas Cat was only a kitten
Hardly any bigger than a warm wool mitten
Lived on the scraps from the innkeeper's table
Slept in the hayloft over the stable
The sounds of the donkey and the cow and the sheep
Were her favourite lullaby before she fell asleep
She gazed at the stars in the Bethlehem skies
Through the cracks in the roof with two bright eyes

One cold night she awoke from a dream
A ray of starlight touched the wooden beam
In the corner in the hayloft, where she always slept
In that humble little stable where the animals were kept
A new star shone over Bethlehem that night
Bathing the stable in a heavenly light
And the donkey and the cow and the sheep were astir
And there in the manger right below her...

The starlight fell on a baby's face
Full of peace and warmth and grace
As his mother sang a lullaby of love
And his father looked to the sky above
As he saw the star and he caught the eye
Of the Christmas cat in her perch on high
And he gently reached and gathered her
And he brought her down by the babe to purr

And the Christmas cat and the baby slept
As the father prayed and the mother wept
Tears of hope for their baby boy
Angels came to share the joy
And local shepherds to behold
And wise men bearing gifts and gold
And the tiny babe and the Christmas cat
Slept all through the night like that

The Christmas cat awoke in the dawn
As the sunlight rose and the night was gone
She was all alone in the manger hay
And she wasn't really sure how she got that way
Was it all in a dream that she might have had-
The baby boy and the mom and dad?
Wise men, shepherds, star so bright
Over Bethlehem that night?

The Christmas cat was only a kitten
Hardly any bigger than a warm wool mitten
She wasn't much good at a mystery
And she didn't know a thing about history
She only knew what she believed
And she thought about that, and she felt relieved
And she listened to the donkey and the cow and the sheep
And she closed her eyes, and went back to sleep...

I've posted this before and then taken it down because it's not a song. But I recently performed it and someone asked where she might find it on the internet, not realizing I'd written it... and I decided I'd better at least put it where people might find it. When I get my poetry section up I guess it might go there.