Rat-Catcher & Potato Head


For weeks we’d
hear it gnawing
at the wood slats

of the chain-link fence
rustling through leaves
heaped in the corner

of the yard
by the neighbor’s cinderblock
garage and once a

glimpse of long pink tail
black fur eyes little pricks
in the dark sparked

by the porchlight
one afternoon
out of the blue

a feathered
slash & rat clutched
in talons snatched

away spirited off over
the parking lot
kids’ sandbox

Mr. Potato Head
stoic under his bowler
not batting an eye


                                                6 February 2019

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