#146 Kevin Brophy 'Gone but not gone'

#146 ‘Gone but not gone’

This is to let you know

we found the mouse.

It was on the floor

of the wardrobe

under the black hose

of the vacuum cleaner,

its tiny belly full of green poison

and its head once swimming

in a final mousy confusion

lifted a little

as if to sniff what cannot be reached.

It was soft to pick up, but still held

its shape and colour,

a furriness too

that told of a life of rubbing

round corners, squinches and shelves.

Yes, the mouse has been thrown out

into the sandy yard in a plastic bag

held down by a rock.

A smell, though, persists

in the walls, in the floor,

and along the edges of one door.

We wait and hope now

to become so used to it

that it will disappear in time.