Rat

Jennifer Paige©1994

Trembling
    like a scared rabbit
    being chased by a boy
        I sit
        Alone
In the empty darkness
I hear the shuffle
Of footfall too tiny to
    be human
        Scurrying--
The rats
Run above me
Like wicked little angels
God has outcast
Squealing their laughter
They are happy
To see me in my
        Misery
        Time
Pooling in the corners of the room
Standing still
It's too quiet
Aside from the thundering of
    my heart
    in my hollow chest
The pressure
In my stomach
Is unbearable
In its violent churning
    depths
The rotting wood around me
Sends the sweet odor of decay
To permeate my nostrils
And ferment in my lungs
Until it becomes
        Intoxicating
Like a wine which is aged
In wood
It is cold
A coldness that reinforces
    my trembling
    my skin cold
        Slimy
Like an oyster
On the ocean floor
    and isolated
Surrounded by a thousand tiny
        Eyes
Still alone
In the darkness of a
Rat-infested apartment building

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