Once upon a time is an opening to a tale
Of one small cat and a mage whom I hail
As a man most unique in his quiet refinement,
A man who has love as his private assignment.
But his name I'll retain 'till his time is at hand,
And I'll turn to the cat, who looked rather bland.
She thought that she could not look good if she tried,
So she didn't, and that is the reason she cried.
"Just once," she would think, "I wish I were great,
And I long for the fur that I could equate
To velvet or silk. But no, it's just plain.
Thick and all rumpled, especially in rain!"
She would find books of drawings and keep them nearby
And frequently