[CAT] "Ode to Spot"

[rfmcdonald]

Star Trek: The Next Generation's Data was a cat owner, Spot featuring in numerous episodes. In the sixth-season episode "Schisms", Data even recites a poem in Spot's honour, "Ode to Spot", written in iambic heptameter.

"Light Parade at Church and Wellesley" (Watch on YouTube)

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communications
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.

"Arrival of the Light Parade at Barbara Hall Park" (Watch on YouTube)

And Shakespeare is reacting to the video and audio of spot, if you're wondering.