Dracula's Rat
       

In the school play
they give the deaf boy the part
of Dracula's rat,
because the school believes in inclusion

and because it's a non-speaking role
and because he more than a little
resembles a rat, with his pointy incisors
flaring out next to his impacted premolars.

The truth is, on those rare occasions
when his voice pokes out of the dark tunnel
of his throat, where it hibernates most of the school day,
he even sounds like a rat might sound,

especially a rat from Transylvania.
So he attends all of the rehearsals.
And he comes when Dracula calls. And all agree
he's got the look of obsequiousness down pat.

At his curtain call he bows deeply,
and the decibel level of applause rises
higher even than for Dracula himself—
which everyone notices, except for the rat,

who leaves the cast party early,
his makeup smudging his temples,
and burrows into bed and falls asleep quickly,
and dreams again of that other country.

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Copyright © 2021 Paul Hostovsky All rights reserved
from Deaf & Blind
Main Street Rag Publishing Company
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission