63. Do Not Disturb [100 poems challenge]

63.          Do Not Disturb

Hush, ‘tis but a tiny rodent—
A “wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie”—
So tread softly,
Let it lie, peaceful,
With its tiny heart aflutter
Rapid pulsing through soft fur.

Approach with stealth,
Slow movements muffled,
Try not to make a sound,
Betrayed in the tell-tale flick of ear.

Then
When
Whiskers start a-trembling, twitching,
And you wonder
Did an eddy from your passing
Cause the movement
Or does the sleeper start to stir?
As your cautious tip-toe stumbles,
Too late for silence,
Echoes resound
And can’t be called back.
In that instant—
Mouse alerted,
Hear it roar.

21-23 June 2013

Comments: This time I stole a line from Robbie Burns. I am nothing if not eclectic in the sources of my plagiarism. For this theme I couldn’t work out what it was that should not be disturbed and, therefore, what the consequences might be if it was. And then I remembered the book/movie title “The Mouse That Roared” (the title was about all I knew of it, although I have since looked it/them up in Wikipedia and decided that I should read the book one day).

Themes to come: 64. Multitasking; 65. Horror; 66. Traps; 67. Playing the Melody; 68. Hero

Explanation about the 100 poems challenge here.