Death of a Mouse

by Bruce McRae

Which is no great thing,

coming in from the frost-bitten fields,

meeting its mousey maker,

eternity’s agent the simple housecat,

a fat and playful angel of death.

The mouse, its life poured out

on a mat by a door,

the watch of its heart stopped,

the wheel in its head no longer turning.

As must we all lie down,

a little dirt-nap for the fallen just,

an old wind aching in the yellowing glade,

fields of gold calling us home,

the grains of harvest piled high.