Oscar The Gifted Cat Poem by Walterrean Salley

Ole Oscar is a gifted cat
That resides at a nursing home.
But he is not a patient there,
And thus, is privileged to roam.

As officials make bedtime rounds
The cat then, too, would go.
He comforts there the elderly
Who fondly love him so.

But Oscar has a unique gift
A gift that puzzles all.
He seems to sense when it is time
For patients' final call.

So he cuddles up beside them
To love, and watch, and cleave.
Until the patient's transition,
The cat just would not leave.

And within twenty-four hours,
It's over. All is done.
Then the kitty leaves quietly—
Knowing the patient's gone.

He's done it more than fifty times,
And that with no mistake—
Thus, converting would-be skeptics
Turned believers in his wake.


(9/16 Revised for better transition and smoother reading.)