2025 Commended poem: 'Do Not Resuscitate' by Charlotte Pannell

Do Not Resuscitate

the cat

she’s old and tired

with a snaggletooth and

a gammy foot

she’s fed up with her job

at the chemical factory

they don’t pay her overtime and

she never sees her kittens

don’t resuscitate her if

she gets into an accident up a tree

or chokes on a biscuit

she’s tired of it

and i am too

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Dead Cat Poetry Prize - winners and commendees, 2025