Night of the Rat
By
Clara Blair
The rat taught Joe a brand-new skill.
With rage, disgust and desperation,
Tonight, the rat taught him to kill.
Fat with upholstery chewed from the van,
Amused by the poison bait temptation,
The rat taught Joe a brand-new skill.
Joe, all his life a nurturing man,
Friend of soft-pawed furry nations,
Tonight, the rat taught Joe to kill.
He'd lived with no blood on his hand
And faced this task with trepidation.
The rat taught Joe a brand-new skill.
No choice but now to make a stand,
And save his home from infestation.
Tonight, the rat taught Joe to kill.
Cry innocence lost to the demand
To accomplish this extermination!
The rat taught Joe a brand-new skill.
Tonight, the rat taught him to kill.
© 2003 Clara Blair
Note: This is a villanelle, an archaic poetic form, the best-known example of which is "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," by Dylan Thomas. My effort here is a serio-comic tribute to the ordeal my son recently faced as a new homeowner using an inefficient rat trap.
|
