The Naming of Cats

👉 Read "The Naming of Cats" by T. S. Eliot on Academy of American Poets (Poets.org)

If you share your home with a cat, you’ve likely spent time wondering what is actually going on behind those inscrutable eyes.
In "The Naming of Cats," T. S. Eliot takes on the mystery of feline identity with wonderful humor and rhythm.
He proposes that every cat requires three distinct names:
the everyday name used by the family,
a dignified name that belongs to only one cat,
and a secret third name that no human will ever guess.

Excerpt

“When you notice a cat in profound meditation
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name…”