https://crystal.castle.cc/tag/rats/ Recent content in Rats on adventures of an omnomnomnivore in NYC Hugo en-US Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:58:05 -0400 https://crystal.castle.cc/2011/09/07/rats/ Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:58:05 -0400 https://crystal.castle.cc/2011/09/07/rats/ <p>If you rub a mouse on the nose,<br /> It will pee in your palm.<br /> I poke the moist, fuzzy snout<br /> Then set it on Marian’s backpack.<br /> She hated me, deserved the dark<br /> Droplet trickling down the monogrammed leather<br /> Maybe her bag would discolor, orange to purple<br /> Maybe it’d waft a sour smell, everyone thinking<br /> Marian doesn’t shower, Marian has B.O.!<br /> All the mice liked me<br /> If I were the Pied Piper,<br /> They’d prance faithfully after my panpipe<br /> I put a satiny one in my pencil box<br /> It was April Fool’s Day<br /> Mrs. Chanda taught math next period<br /> I waited until the class settled, and winked<br /> My best friend giggled when<br /> The mouse darted under the tables<br /> Blurred toward Marion’s foot<br /> She stood up and screamed<br /> Perched atop her chair like<br /> Dumbo balancing on a tight rope<br /> I snickered and pointed<br /> I hated Mrs. Chanda, too<br /> We called her Fungus Fingers<br /> Her nails were grimy, concrete gray<br /> Like sticks of string cheese<br /> Left to mold in the vegetable drawer<br /> A chalk allergy, she claimed<br /> Of course we knew better, whispers circled<br /> Hooted at her daughter’s photograph<br /> Fat and ugly, it chimed, greasy hair and glasses<br /> Happy, I was having fun<br /> In the grocery store, Kroger’s<br /> My cousin Kevin, we ogled<br /> Rainbow bins of gummi bears, bubble gum<br /> Foil-wrapped hearts and stars<br /> Let’s get some, he insisted,<br /> Grandma will let us buy it<br /> And shoveled a wad of chocolate into his pocket<br /> Of course. nodding, the same I<br /> Plunged my hand into the Hershey Kisses,<br /> Tucked my reward inside my jacket and<br /> Kept walking away, chin high.<br /> Soon after, Grandma found out,<br /> I don’t remember how she knew,<br /> Just that we emptied our pockets out<br /> Sneaky, sliding the sticky wrappers into<br /> A trash can, before anyone could see.<br /> My cheeks flushed red, I knew<br /> Stealing was wrong.<br /> Grandma dropped me home that day,<br /> Mentioned nothing about the shopping trip<br /> My mom hugged me, sent me inside<br /> Maybe she thought I was too young<br /> To tell between right and wrong,<br /> I didn’t know the difference, really<br /> Only knew the churning of a stomach choking vomit.</p>