Poem for a Field Mouse
       

Every night the cats catch a mouse
I rescue the mouse in a yogurt container,
take it outside, and let it go.
Every night for as long as I can remember
or at least as many make a pattern,
I rescue these mice and it's a wonder
I have so many yogurt containers
and that the cats never seem to understand
what's happening. I set the little guy down
by the woodpile tonight. He'll have the option
to seek out the shallots in the shed if he wants
or maybe find his family, I project sentimentally.
He didn't seem hurt so much as alarmed
and, you know, he looked sort of familiar.
Either I'm rescuing the same mouse every night
or he can't believe his own freedom either,
or both, lord help us, both things are true.

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Copyright © 2022 Chelsea Harlan All rights reserved
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