Besse The Card-Shuffling Cat

(In the style of poems from 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' by
T.S.Eliot.)

Besse the card-shuffling cat
Will keep her affections in check
She may nap for all hours of the day - just like that!
In the evening she prowls the deck...
Between her white paws
The cards seem to dart
Like a shoal of mackeral caught in her trap
She greedily claws them apart with a snappity-snap

She's the ace!
Her face could be a guise, like her hat!
She is Besse the card-shuffling cat

She will seem remarkably tame
As she calculates how the odds stand
And only but only if she seizes the game
Will she ever reveal her hand...
She plays close to her chest
Makes her moves in a flash!
She gambles away all her old copper coins
But never the rest of the cash she discretely purloins

She's the ace!
Her face could be a guise, like her hat!
She is Besse the card-shuffling cat

Her wistful look pervades
Among hearts and neighbours alike
With a jack from the pack and the queen of spades
She's almost ready to strike...
Or else quietly wince
And submit to defeat
The man is a fool who leans over to stroke her
Or attempts to convince her that she should indulge in strip
poker!

She's the ace!
Her face could be a guise, like her hat!
She is Besse the card-shuffling cat