I found Lou when I was 10 years old.
I was walking home one day
and the weather turned cold.
He was just a scrawny kitten
by the railroad track
and I'd have left him there
but I happened to look back
and noticed he was limping.
His front paw was hurt.
I went back an d picked him up
and stuck him under my shirt.
When I got home I tried to hide him
but my mama said, what's that?
When I opened up my
She went on a raving
and said,
Son, you'll have to take it back.
It's another mouth to feed,
And we can't feed no alley cat.
So I took poor Lou up under the house,
Dug a hole in the dirt,
Just as quite as a mouse.
I stuck him down in there
And covered him with hay,
Hoping that would be enough
To keep the cold away.
Through the night I whirred
And tossed around in bed.
I was sure that with a bit cold
by morning he'd be dead
so I sneaked outside real quiet
not to wake the others and
I brought that ragged cat inside
and hid him in the cupboard
when I woke up
I sure was scared
cuz mama was standing there
that darn cat no longer hid
it was playing in my hair
I thought for sure she'd whip me hard
or as hard as she was able,
but she just gave me a funny look
and said, breakfast is on the table.
If I'd known more about Mama,
I wouldn't have had no fear.
It turned out she let him stay
for 17 long years.
Old Lou just wanted enough to eat.
He never asked for more.
He was there when Daddy passed away
and when Sonny went to war.
I never will forget the day
when Old Lou finally died.
He was just a plain ol' alley cat,
but Lord, how Mama cried.
That was so many years ago,
how fast the years unfold.
Seems like Mama was young one day
an d the next day she was old.
I went back last year,
just before Mama died.
She kept talking about Dad and Sonny
and all the days gone by.
Then she said, son,
I know I'm getting old,
and my sight's failing me,
but I could swear I just saw old Lou
out yonder un der that old
tree.