-K Radhakumar
I am a rat.
My tragedy is
Nobody likes me.
The homeowner
A heavily built, mustachioed man
Is always after me.
He tells his children
There’s nothing good about me
And calls me an irritating small animal.
He also tells others
I destroy food and spread disease.
Whenever he sees me
He’ll take one of a pair of sleepers off
And throw it at me.
Naturally, it misses me
And he thinks it is a bad miss.
He keeps a cat
And lays traps to catch me.
You know he always lays traps
With fresh, mouth-watering baits.
The ugly and powerful springs
Shine in the dark
And the temptation of food
Within easy reach is great.
Oh, I have many enemies
That take the forms of
A man, a cat and many traps.
My life doesn’t run smoothly –
I have to snatch food from the jaws of death
And run for my dear life.
I have the time
To copulate with my mate
And the mother rat will give birth to
A litter of little ones in time.
The rat’s hungry –
The poor little thing.
He tries to snatch the bait
From the ugly mouth of the trap
And dies in the process.
All of you play a game of life
Till the great leveller blows the whistle
For the end of it.
Oh, you poor little thing!
You can’t win them all
You win some, you lose some.