When she was three she said to me,
"I'll never move away.
I'll stay with you my whole life through . . .
Forever and a day. "

But once a teen she didn't mean
Those words much any more,
So I, in jest, and mother's quest
Told her I'd lock the door.

She said, "If you don't let me do
The things that others get,
I'm moving back with my knapsack
And googols of my pets. "

Now, animals were her whole world;
To Hollywood she went.
But glitz and fame were not her game.
In zoos her time was spent.

With a degree in husbandry
She came home all grown up.
But then she said, "Mom, now instead,
I'm living with my pup . . . "

She fell in lust but it went bust,
And she came home to me.
I saw her wend around the bend -
Alas, what I did see!

Her baggage, and an entourage
Of animals in tow;
Two great big dogs, husky and dob.
"Hello, Mom, we are home! "

Iguanas come in aquariums,
Three snakes, but two were dead . . .
Then seven cats - and "Several rats
For python food, " she said.

With all her stuff, and pets enough
Her trampoline and zoo
Just to be sure, lest Mom need more,
She had Cassandra too.

So that is why, as time went by
My solitude becked me
She's moved out now, but not without
Fulfilling prophecy.