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There's a Mouse in the House

King Tut has creatures
large and small
to carry about in his mouth

He's a cat, you know,
and hunts high and low
for that is what cats do

So he has little animals
Stuffed!
Strategically placed
In every room

Lessens the to-do
with a real mouse
carried in his mouth
into the house

But last night
He arrived in the house
with a mouse
a real mouse

Intense excitement
sister cat sniffed
mouse ran
Arnold chased
and they all ran

We chased that poor mouse
all over the house
till finally he ran out
through the open kitchen door
It's hot here, you know.

Mouse out
mouse safe
intense excitement
degenearates into giggles
at a whole family
behaving like keystone cops

This morning, bright and early
Well, really bright
But not so early
Arnold opened the kitchen door

Sister cat wandered out
stopped, sniffed, alert
and Arnold grouched
That mouse
he's still here
Oh, dear.

Well, really
he's out
why didn't he leave?
he's hurt?
he is not
you should see him run.

Time for theory
without a doubt
Why would a mouse
not avoid the vicinity
of a house
with two cats?

Maybe he's a little slow
and needs special education?
dear me
how do you special educate
a mouse
who won't leave
the vicinity of your house?

Now, let's see this
from his perspective
he or she is an Other
in the midst of a somewhat
well, unusual family

He/she has answerability
we'll listen in good faith
to a mouse
outside our house
but none of us speak mouse

Aha! visual sociology
he/she is little
he/she landed last night
in a kind of enclosed
garden space

The wall that encloses
the space
is about two feet high
pretty tall for a mouse
but there's a big open space
at one end

But it's also a very long space
Maybe if you're a mouse
just escaped from a house
with a gaggle of squealing
laughing
darting about
humans

And maybe if it's late at night
and you've escaped with your life
You nestle in safely under a step
until suddenly out they come
with the daylight
the whole gaggling family

Conclusion;
Try chasing the mouse
toward the right end of the house
where there's an opening
in the tall wall.

But wait
he/she (the mouse) is a formidable opponent
a cousin who looked just like this mouse
once bit Arnold when he got in the house,
the mouse, got in the house
that is
in the mouth
of a family cat
with a curious dog
trailing

So Arnold goes off for armour
and solid boots
to combat this three inch creature
from outer house space
and returns prepared with humongous gloves
and boots
and broom
to sweep the mouse
to victory
kind of like in ice hockey

Special education, indeed
The mouse took one look at Arnold the Great
and darted straight in the opposite direction
to freedom
all on his/her own
with a gaggle of giggles
left behind
and one small gray cat still looking for his mouse.

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