Musical accompaniment: Léo Delibes, Sylvia divertissement.

Most of our lives, we wear a mask —
what kind of cat are you, I ask?

Some cats are metaphorical —
they’re not at all purchasable.

The clever cats found in good books
don’t need approval for their looks.

Some cats are grouchy and mature
and won’t put up with haute coiffure.

There is the cat we keep and feed
and that’s the cat most of us need.

There is the cat who stays inside —
supposedly, she’s satisfied.

And then the cats who come and go —
they’re not content at the window.

Some cats will stay in the back yard —
they’re not the cats of the vanguard.

Some cats range through the neighborhood —
they’re usually misunderstood.

Some cats are known to run away —
perhaps it’s in their DNA.

I know a cat I cannot keep
and she’s the reason that I weep.

Some cats will hear their names and come —
there’s other cats you can’t fathom.

I know of cats who like to play
and others don’t, because they’re stray.

Of all the cats that I have met,
the one I lost I can’t forget.

The kind of cat that we may be —
it’s all a mystery to me.