Welcome back to The Daily Poem, a podcast from Goldberry Studios.

I'm Sean Johnson, and today is Wednesday, August 7, 2024.

Today's poem is by T.S. Eliot, and it's called Old Deuteronomy.

This is another offering from his collection, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats,

which, as far as poetry collections go, has really enjoyed a long life and a vibrant reputation in its reincarnation as the musical Cats.

And that weird recent film adaptation of the musical cats which we won't talk about

though it probably makes appearances in your nightmares from time to time but in the

overall body of t s elliott's work his uvra his canon of poetry this is not the thing that he is

remembered for that he is most famous for

authoring. Nevertheless, full of jams, chalkful. So here's another one. And the beauty of this poem

is that it really requires so little commentary. It speaks for itself.

And if you have any kind of experience with cats,

you know exactly what kind of cat Old Deuteronomy is.

You have encountered this cat before the cat that never seems to die.

Maybe you have a relative who owns this cat or a neighbor who owns this cat

or you see this cat around town.

And years and years can go by and you return and it seems like the same cat is still in the same place.

And maybe we'll go on living interminably.

And you become so accustomed to the sight of this cat that when you least expect it,

this cat is underfoot and trips you up.

This is the cat that is responsible for so many ankle fractures and that sort of thing.

Without further ado, I give you Old Deuteronomy.

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