Redbird at the feeder, scarlet plumage bright;
Intent on cracking sunflower seeds, you don't glance left or right.
Skulking near the corner, belly to the ground,
Tom the Tabby, whiskers twitching, green eyes looking round.

Pretending he's a Big Cat, hunting down his prey,
He pounces on the caterpillars that get in his way.
He swats at bees and hornets with a deadly paw.
He's Tiger Tom the Tabby...tremble at his roar!

Flash of crimson feathers, to the grass you drop;
I hope for your sake, Redbird, you have a lively hop.
But Tom the Tabby's startled and not sure how to act;
He takes a small step forward and then two large ones back.

He remembers he's a Tiger, born of royal stock;
Faster than greased lightning and steady as a rock.
His green eyes start to narrow, he bares ferocious jaws.
The Redbird flutters, side-to-side, on keenly whittled claws.

Tom's hairs began to bristle, he snarls a warning growl;
A graceful leap into the air...nothing can stop him now.
The Redbird, barely blinking, waits with a stony stare
As sure-footed Tom go sliding past upon his derriere.

It's the Redbird's turn at hunter, it gives a fiercesome squawk
And Tom wonders when the Redbird became an angry Hawk.
With a beak honed like a razor and talons sharp as nails,
Suddenly it swoops and has a Tiger by the tail.

There's a rumpus in the bushes and in the flower bed;
Then Tom the Tabby dashes out, the Redbird on his head.
It pecks with savage malice upon the cat's left ear;
Tom is mewling like a kitten...it's pitiful to hear.

Now, Tom is running round in circles, a multi-colored blur
Of agitated feathers and wisps of flying fur.
The Redbird is triumphant and carries to its nest
The orange-tufted treasure ripped from Tom the Tabby's chest.

Tom's ear is torn and ragged, there's a gash on his white toes
And some very nasty claw marks across his small black nose.
He cannot believe what's happened and thinks he smells a rat;
Must have been ten giant Redbirds...maybe more than that!

He gazes at the Redbird perched in the old gum tree
And purrs, "Now that'll teach ya to mess around with me!"
Brave Tiger Tom the Tabby lives to fight another day
And swaggers home to brag about the one that got away.