Life — April 19, 1923 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "To a Bad Black Kitten" — Life Magazine Poem This is a moralistic poem by Mabel Cleland Ludlum, illustrated with whimsical cat drawings. It's a satirical sermon addressed to a misbehaving black kitten, threatening heavenly consequences for bad behavior. The poem contrasts "Cat Heaven" (featuring cream, milk, fish, and pink-lidded basket-houses) with exclusion from paradise. It references specific misdeeds—scratching a "little White Kitten" and general mischief—as reasons the kitten will be separated from family "when you die." The humor lies in applying Victorian moral rhetoric (sin, punishment, redemption) to a cat's petty crimes. By treating feline behavior with religious seriousness, the poem gently mocks both contemporary moralizing and the era's concern with proper conduct and "reform."