My Sister, the Tree House and I....by Joyce Riley

MY SISTER, THE TREE HOUSE and I

By Joyce Riley

On our walk through the woods we happened to see
A little, old house in a very tall tree.
“A tree-house, a tree-house,” the two of us chimed.
Then, up the ladder, the two of us climbed.
The house had a porch, a window, a door
And a small rocking chair on a hard wooden floor.
Next to the chair, on a table, there sat
A tea cup, a saucer and a very small cat.
The saucer was empty, the tea cup was dry
And the little grey cat began softly to cry,
“Feed me. Feed me,” we heard it say
So, we gave it the lunch we had packed just that day.
The cat began purring when it had been fed,
Then went to sleep on a lumpy, old bed.
On a very high shelf a radio sat
So, we found some music to sooth our new cat.



Out on the porch we looked all around
Up through the tree top, down to the ground.
There were leaves on the roof and holes in the stair
And, out in the woods, a giant, brown bear.
We stood very still, started to pray
And, after awhile, the bear walked away.
We scooped up the cat, promised never to roam,
And said to our folks, “Look what followed us home.”


Post Script
We never went back trying to find
The house in the woods where, one day we climbed.
But, closer to home, in a very tall tree
Our folks built a house for Sister, and Big Cat and, of course, me.