I've made it to season 6 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Only one more season after this. Over the weekend we watched an episode called Schisms, which deals with members of the crew experiencing missing time. It was creepy and enjoyable. At the beginning, Lieutenant Commander Data (an android, for any non-Trekkies out there) reads some of his poetry to the crew. One of the poems is dedicated to his cat, and it is so excellent that I had to share. It's called "Ode to Spot", and is written in the iambic heptameter mode:
Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.
I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communications
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.
A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.
O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.