Thoroughly Poetic Thankful Thimble Thursday

Happy Thursday, friends! Thursday means that we have a bit of rhyming to do. After all, we always enjoy participating in Angel Sammy and Teddy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge.

Every week, our hosts give us a photo prompt to help get our creative juices flowing. For this week's poetry, they shared with us this mesmerizing image:

I can only imagine how this photo came to be. Are those waters the result of a storm? I don't have the answer to that, but I can tell you that my mind went a bit wild with this image. Well, my mind is always going a bit wild and mad, but that's beside the point. For some reason, as I stared at this photo, I thought of the River Styx, and how in Greek mythology souls could be ferried across the Styx to the Underworld.

It doesn't stop there, though. At the same time I was pondering the River Styx and the Underworld and all sorts of uplifting thoughts like that, I saw a little comic online. This little comic portrayed a cat at the pearly gates of heaven, offering a punch card that indicated the kitty still had some lives to go before it needed to take up residence in the skies above.

Does all of the above make sense? Yeah, it doesn't make much sense to me either. Long story short, I was yet again in some sort of morbid, slightly Halloween-esque frame of mind when it came time to write this poem and scribble up its corresponding doodle. That was just about the worst explanation ever, so I'll just be quiet and let you read the strange rhyme below.

9 Lives

Active and full of life was the orange tabby named Neville.

He was also what you would call a downright daredevil.

He jumped and ran and did all sorts of tricks,

Which included balancing on the edges of tall buildings of brick.

It was on one windy day that Neville scaled such a wall.

And, well, let's suffice it to say that down he did fall.

Do not cry, mourn, or feel sad just yet, though,

For it wasn't so easily that Neville would go.

He found himself way, way up in the clouds,

Where he also found a great big hustling, bustling crowd.

 "Well, shoot!" Neville did moan.

"I would have been more careful if the length of this line I had known."

Indeed, Neville stood at the very way back of a line,

Which spanned all the way up to a faraway stop sign.

The traffic inched and crawled and Neville did sigh.

At least he then noticed a friend off to the side.

"Hello there, Cerberus!" Neville did wave and shout.

Out of Cerberus the dog's neck three heads did sprout.

"Busy day up here, huh?" Neville did ask.

With a nod the dog said, "You all make this job one heck of a task."

In charge of directing the newest arrivals this way and that,

Cerberus never got a break, never relaxed, and certainly never sat.

"By the way," the dog said, "you're in the wrong line."

Neville looked around with, "Oh, goodness me, am I?"

"Let me see your card," Cerberus did say.

Neville whipped out his card and put it proudly on display.

At the top the card simply read, 9 Lives,

And at the bottom were 9 squares, all in a line.

A hole had been punched in a total of 3,

Something which brought Neville a great deal of glee.

"That's what I thought," said the three-headed dog.

"You'll want to be in the line over there on that wall.

The line you're in now is for those at the end of their card.

For you, that day is still is in the future quite far."

Without haste, Neville made his way to the proper line.

Imagine if being in the wrong line had cut short his 9 lives!

Thanks to Cerberus, though, he would still have a few more to go.

That is, if he ever made it out of this line that was painfully slow.

In the way, way distance something bright could be seen.

Oh, yes, it was a bright red stoplight that did shine and gleam.

On occasion the light would instead glow green,

But only for a time that was so short it was obscene.

Behind Neville, the line continued to grow,

And the newcomers' impatience indeed did show.

One little black cat did growl, sigh, and groan.

"I told my mom I'd be right back," he did moan.

"Good grief, I don't have time for this!"

Those words came from a brown tabby with a mean old hiss.

After what might have been hours, days, or perhaps weeks,

The front of the line Neville could finally see.

The stoplight ahead turned from red to green,

But of course turned back to red before it was his turn to be seen.

"Seriously?" Neville shouted with little patience left.

Then he stopped and took a deep, calming breath.

Finally, Neville was at the front of the line,

Where stood a fellow with a name tag that read, Clive.

This fellow Clive extended his hand without a word.

Knowing the drill, Neville handed his card to the good old sir.

Clive drew out a hole punch and took his sweet time.

No wonder they were all losing lives simply standing in line!

Finally, Clive punched a fourth hole in Neville's card.

Was the task really all that hard?

Wasting not even a second more of his remaining lives,

Neville turned, dashed, and got out of there in no time.

But, when he left the clouds and descended back down,

All Neville could at first do was growl and frown.

The line had been so long that Neville had, in fact, already been buried.
It had happened before and was really not all that scary.

Neville simply dug, pushed, and shoved his way out,

Until, out of the ground, with his new life he did sprout.

***

Who's ready for the Thimble part of this Thursday?

In a house with six kitties and a pup, it's sometimes a tad bit difficult to achieve the peace and quiet to hear your own thoughts. Thimble, though, always makes sure to find at least half a second for such pensive moments. Can't you just see how hard her mind is working here?

Thimble is so grateful for even the most fleeting peace and quiet that she's entering it into Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

We're also, of course, thankful for this wonderful blogging community and all of the friends we've made thanks to it. Wishing much happiness to all of you, friends!

***

Last but not least, we're here to help you prepare for tomorrow's Friendly Fill-Ins challenge. The fill-in statements are below. Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. I just _________.

2. My next _________ will be _________.

3. The sound of _________ makes me cringe.

4. Right now, I am craving _________.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

***

Our Tip of the Day:

Today is the final of our Pet Cancer Awareness Month tips. We've discussed a variety of ways to potentially help prevent cancer in your kitties and pups. Now we're here with a reminder we're sure you all know, and that is to be knowledgeable of signs that might indicate cancer, or other diseases, in your furbabies. As you're all certainly aware, the symptoms of cancer and other diseases can vary in more ways than one. That being said, always keep a close eye on your kitty or pup, and use petting sessions to do regular checks for masses or other abnormalities of the skin, eyes, mouth, and so forth. Also, of course, be aware of any other changes in their appearance, activity, or behavior. Note any changes in their weight, coat, appetite, energy level, mobility, bathroom habits, and anything and everything in between. What's more, if you do notice any changes or concerns, never hesitate to contact your veterinarian.