the mice came
when the cat died
that same night
hoardes of them
ugly brown rats
from the alleys
and pewling grays
from attic mattress
skittering across
the kitchen floor
take one, then two
glancing blows of
a stainless skillet
before a third
catches him square
insides spurting from
gaping mouth in
crushed skull
flattened in mid-stride
every little bone broken
worm food now, but chlorine
desiccates even the genes
drying to dust and powder
over the coming months as
squash grows
and seasons change from
damp heat to icy howl
all in a nonce
and we are far down the path
ever on the road to when we
imagine
i no longer remember the year
but the garden & camaraderie
sweating & swatting gnats
all going wrong then
we all knew
it was the weather though
perhaps none will believe
for another score years
it was an ill spring then
and now the endless war
