****paradise-Patsy The Cat Poem by Coach Roth

Coach, Chumly, and Maria
moved into the Snake Pit
in June having bought it from
Tony who was an 88 year old
flaming queen who had danced
in everything from the Ziegfield Follies
to the Blues Brothers movies.
He had moved to Mexico with relatives
and left the house and all it's
furnishings behind. The trio
set about cleaning up and throwing
out whatever they didn't want.
The Snake Pit overlooked
downtown L.A in the front,
and Burbank in the back...
with a beautiful deck on each side.
On the third day, with the porch door opened...
a small kitten came inside and sat down...
Chumly sensing a friend immediately
went to say hello and got a claw
across the nose for his trouble.
The cat was out the door before
Chumly could catch her.

The next day she returned with
the same results, and neither
Coach nor Maria could coax
her any further into the house.
At midnight when Chumly and Coach
went for their two mile walk around
the Hollywood Hills, the cat would
follow them, always a block behind
and whining the whole way...
Coach always thought cats
were short distance sprinters...
like rabbits...he couldn't believe
that she would go the whole
two miles with them...
'and all she does is whine...'
Maria 'Let's call her Patsy...
as in Patsy Cline...she goes
walking after midnight...'
Coach agreed although in his head
he thought Patsy Whine.

So two weeks later with Chumly
a block ahead and Patsy a block behind...
Coach saw a car coming up the mountain road
and Patsy froze in the headlights...
Coach screamed and yelled
but Patsy was right in the car's path
and he started running but realized
he would never make it...
then there was that flash of black
moving at the speed of light with
long ten foot strides that always
amazed him even after all these years....
Chumly was racing down the hill...
tongue hanging...ears flapping
head down...face determined...
until he stood between Patsy and the car
where he got down and barked and growled
and dared the car to take him on...
which fortunately the driver didn't....
Then Chumly used his muzzle
to prod Patsy toward the curb
which got him a claw across the nose
for his trouble.
Coach told Maria...
'If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it...
I'll never make fun of Lassie again.'