The author is not James Whitcomb Riley, after all ... .

I'm more than certain that this is the work of Eugene Field. And -- as I suspected -- those fragments have run through everything today, crept into my reporting time for last week's Planning Commission and City Council sessions. Fortunately, I was able to recover the gist of the happenings from what I'd recorded here, so it all worked out. All I could recover of the poem was this:

"Said the cat to the owl, you elegant fowl la la la, lala la, la la"

and,

"and they danced in the light of the moon, the moon
they danced in the light of the moon..."

There must be some kind soul who can supply the rest of this lovely little piece ... I would be ever so grateful.

...and tomorrow I can get back to doing the "work of the people." ;-)