I killed him with love: Ode to a mouse

by Betsy Mars

I socked him away, 

safe from escape, 

with warmth 

to the touch and softness -

smelling of mouse

pellets and hay. 

Like a lucky rabbit foot

to stroke in the night 

when demons came

calling for me, he comforted,

but I slept right through

to the mourning  

He was cold 

and hard to the touch.   

In my guilt, I emptied  

the sock and left him 

rigid in the cage, 

To be discovered

and buried,  

along with my memory 

of inadvertent, mindless murder.   

At eight years old,

I learned that love could be lethal. 

* * * * *

"I killed him with love: Ode to a mouse" was first published by Cadence Collective and is also in Betsy Mars's new 2019 collection Alinea.

Betsy Mars is a southern California poet who is in a perpetual battle with change – finally coming to some kind of a truce, and at times even love and acceptance. She is an educator, mother, animal lover, and over-excited traveler. Her poetry has been published in a number of places, both online and in print, most recently in Sheila-Na-Gig, The Ekphrastic Review, and Red Wolf Journal. Writing has given her a means to explore her preoccupation with mortality and her evolving sense of self.