One Dead Rat

the rat

laid in the middle of the sidewalk
arms straight out
paws wide open reaching for the sun
eyes staring blindly out
at a world that had no feeling
no forgiveness
no tender mercy for him
the rat
was dead
it was hard to say how he met his demise
there was not a mark upon him
he looked perfect
as innocent as a newborn baby
pretending to sleep
a game of cat and mouse
the playfulness of a young squirrel
away from his mother for the first time
it was true that the rat
was dead
but how?
looking at the perfection of what he was
I could not fathom
what killed him
How alone he was
how exposed
trapped on the surface of the world
he dwelled in
perhaps that's what killed him
a stunning realization
that there was no way out
no way back in
no way to retrieve all that was lost
ending his life in a moment
a flash
a flicker of the nose
a last blink of the eye
a willful abandonment of his life
of struggle
and willful determination
evaporated with a  cry to the moon
flailing to the rising sun
how many countless more
have gone before him
how many disparate souls
to follow
the rat
was dead

© 2012~SophieD