On hindlegs you raised to attention,
poising your three-inch stature inside my sink.
Your whiskers sniff-sensed my approach
before I caught you in my sightlines.
Twitching your shock-frozen body,
your heart beat, faster than mine:
But you held my gaze steady
with black and beady eyes.
In split-seconds I reached for the ladle
which greeted your head
With one hit that stunned
and the next that slayed
A kitchen marauder, a field mouse: you,
on that bright Thanksgiving morning
When you entered the garbage disposal
to the great beyond.
About the artist...
Emily Madapusi Pera is a writer based in Providence, RI. She promises no carnage in her kitchen, if you visit her there. Previous credits include the illustrious previous issues of Scout & Birdie, as well as Sliced Bread, Back to Print, and Tuck Magazine; and a forthcoming story in STORGY magazine.
Want to see more of Emily's work?
Check out her work from previous issues:
- Betray: Defining the Unwanted Friend from Issue XI: Diving In
- Indiana from Issue X: Home
- Erasure Poems from "Pointed Roofs" by Dorothy Richardson from Issue IV: Be Kind, Rewind
- Café Mysteries from Issue II: Messy
- Three Poems from Issue I: First Impressions