Mice, Joan Colby

A mouse’s cache
Dog kibble in a dresser drawer.
Traps are considered.
Glue strips. Poison:
The snap type or the humane tin box
With holes and bait. We vote for the last
Then forget to check it.
When our son was small he kept white mice
In a terrarium. “The father mice are eating
The babies,” he wailed one night.
As they carried the tiny naked thumbs
Into the Lego castle,
A Grimm fairy tale.
One got loose
And danced in his sister’s hair
Awakening her to scream
And dance a horror ballet
“there it is on the dresser”
So pleasant in tales,
Cheery emperor of Orlando,
Joyous children in caps with
Big round ears.
Then a cluster of turds
In the silverware drawer.