Do Cats Wear Hats? A Poem by Doris Lueth Stengel

I can see it yet
second grade art project
smug cat sitting
large hat upon its head.

My seven-year-old fingers
colored carefully inside the lines
canary yellow fur,
green eyes, purple hat
a fairly "smashing" cat.

The fat red "D"
destroyed my heart
betrayed my trust
in idolized teacher.
"whoever saw a yellow cat?"
I did not cry
then
but fifty years later
I can still see that cat.