Rats

The rat that scuttles under the floor
is a history buff which likes to gnaw
at matters archival. Documents, socks,
colonial nightwear and babies' smocks.
Teaspoons and thimbles and reels of thread
are essential ornaments for its bed.
Reading glasses and slippers nestle
in ratteries where young ratlets wrestle.
Prophylactics and musical scores
are fodder for feverish rodent jaws.
And the letter you hoped had been ignored
will be found someday when they lift a board.
Many embarrassing secrets are hidden
under the floor in the rodent midden.
Don't count on any support from your cat,
deep down, it too is a feline rat.
Movers and shakers must all adjust
to the chronicler down in the household dust.
Dustbin journalists can't compare
to the rat on the scene that is always there.

© Janet Kenny