Ethnic Cleansing or The Tale of the Man, the Dog, the Cat and the Mouse - A child's allegory

Part 1 Immigration

 

On an average street

Stood an average house

Whose occupants

Were an average mouse

An average dog

And an average cat

Although it unlikely

It’s an absolute fact

The owner himself

Was an average man

But drew from his brain

An extraordinary plan

 

But allow me some lines

To acquaint you by means

Of a brief germane history

Of unfolding scenes

How our band of strange fellows

Became mutually combined

And how at first fights

Ensured they were confined

But all ended in joy

Through splendid design

So let’s see what happened

I’ll not waste more time

 

Some time in the past

The man acquired the house

But it was thread-plain and bare

Except for the mouse

But then cupboards and tall boys

A fridge and a table

Some chairs and a TV

A lamp and a ladle

Invaded the rooms

And continued apace

That the poor little mouse

Was pushed out of the place

 

He retreated behind

The plaster board walls

And occupied nooks

That served as his hall

A bedroom, a lounge

A kitchen and loo

And contented himself

It’s the best I could do

“At least I can wander

In true isolation

When the man goes to sleep”

Some small consolation

 

One chill winter’s evening

He made a foray

His rations were low

His belly was empty

He scampered across

The cold kitchen tiles

And skipped around moonlight

That beamed down in files

He snuffled and sniffed

And scoured every inch

But the household was spotless

Not one crumb to pinch

 

As he cursed his bad luck

And scratched his flat tum

He noticed two lights had

Appeared cross the room

As pryingly taken

As any of his order

He pattered across

To investigate further

When to his horror a

Shape, dreadful and dark

Made an ominous movement

Behind those two sparks

 

Like a gazelle that had spotted

A ravenous leopard 

He sprinted for safety -

His chink in the skirt board

Behind him the cat,

For the mouse knew too well

What he’d seen in the blackness

Was a rodent’s own hell,

Slipped on some grease

Hit a chair to his right

Which allowed the poor mouse

A head start in his flight

 

The creature in terror

Had no time to consider

When the man had adopted

This feline, come whither

His only concern

As his little legs scampered

Was to slip through the gap

Before he was hampered

At last he felt safe

As he dashed through the vale

But alas, to his horror,

Was snagged by the tail

 

His little hands gripped

‘Round an old piece of pipe

With the cat clawing, frenzied,

To taste mousey pie

He clung on with strength

Beyond his wee frame

And was suddenly lifted

Like a mouse aeroplane

As his fragile hold weakened

He was cat food for sure

When a thunder-like roar

Rose from beyond the door

 

The kerfuffle itself

Bellowed in from the stairs

Then a pair of pyjamas

And wild shaggy hair

Entered the kitchen

And threw on the light

What is all this rumpus

That’s woke me tonight?

The man stared at moggy

Who was desperately pawing

Away at the skirting

Screeching and gnawing

 

You’re scratching the paint

Get away cat, away

But the animal continued

Pursuit of the prey

Dragging the scruff

He collared the pussy

And hoisted him high

But oh what a fussy

Scene that transpired

In that little house

A hand held a paw

And a paw held a mouse

 

This compassionate man

Unhooked the hostage

And sheltered him safe

In the temporary cage

Of an old butter tub

On a ledge ‘bove the range,

Beyond the reach

And wit of the mange

No fractious mewling

Of a kitty maligned

Could help the cat scale

The intrinsic incline

 

(The man rescued moggy

From a centre in town

For impoverished beasts

Unwanted, unknown

A grateful sweet pet

A friend, a companion

To curl by the fire

A just emigration

From cold cage confinement

To warm house to wander

A New World just waiting

To explore and to conquer)

 

Another deliverance

He’d lament

To purchase a pen

For the destitute rodent

With an ulterior

Line of debate

To remove from the cat

The temptation innate

And a coop was installed

For the ‘castle’ itself

Preparing poor mouse

For life on a shelf

 

Initially, true,

Things were set up to please

The cage had a wheel

A ladder, trapeze!

Plenty of clean straw

Just snug for a snooze

He was safe and secure

And ate regular food

While below kitty padded

In circular stress

Dreaming for wings to

Attack the fortress

 

But soon the mouse tired

Of his high citadel

With its wheel, ladder, swing

More like toys in a cell

He longed for the freedom

Of running a-frisk

Behind wall, ‘cross floorboard

Regardless the risk

Of the whiskered fiend

That glowered beneath

Who longed for the taste

Of mouse in his teeth

 

One rain darkling dusk,

The sky black as a witch,

A faint scraping like

A ghost scratching an itch

Reached the cosseted man

Asleep in his nightshirt

From his chair by the fire

To a prostrate alert

The cat, also snoozing,

Uncurled and stretched,

And curiously followed

The curious wretch

 

Seeking the source

Of this sinister grind

He crept like a hooded monk

Silent, half-blind

Tiptoed to the hall where the

Rasp was augmented

It scoured the front door

Like a cleaner demented

With only a candlelight

Piercing the mantle

Of the creepy thin hallway

He gripped the door handle

 

With his Adam’s apple

Now as large as a melon

He inched back the frame

Lest confronting a demon

Bleary eyes narrowed

To slant from agog

But no evil form loomed

Out the precipitous fog

Instead he glanced downward

Toward a wee whimper

That came from the region

Around his worn slipper

 

There on the step

As pathetic a sight

He had ever encountered

Was a poor sodden mite

His fur matted tightly

As if in need of a loom

He stroked the mutt softly

Bade it in from the gloom

Into the warmth of his

Living-room hearth

Where it gratefully lay

Gathering its breath

 

But nosey young kitty

Who had followed apace

Spotted the canine

And froze there in place

Her pelt rose asunder

Upon seeing the dog

And involuntarily feigned

A new species of hedgehog

But regaining the use

Of her four padded paws

She flew up the staircase

And hid under some drawers

 

The man felt distressed

At the plight of the cat

But reckoned he could

Organize a pet pact

He saw in the dog

A congenial nature

As a piteous whine

Left the skeletal creature

Let the pussy cat see

How poorly the doggy

And evoke empathy

From the petrified moggy

 

He took an old blanket

And wrapped up the dog

With a hot water bottle

And it slept like a log

Dreaming of misery

And years of abuse

Scolding and beatings

And eating refuse

In turn, though, its dreams

Turned to sweetness and bliss

Safe in a New World

And new master of his

 

Meanwhile its rescuer

Had another mission 

To let sleeping dog lie

And complete the commission

He crept into the kitchen

Took some cheese from the fridge

For an altitude-sick pet

Alone on his ridge

A small little supper

A nibble to gnaw

But the sad little mouse

Was asleep in the straw

 

Dreaming of running

Dreaming of freedom

Careless and carefree

In his old kingdom

A dream o’er the ken

Of this genial host

Who, smiling benignly,

Walked to the post

Of the foot of the stair

And climbing to rest

To crawl beneath blankets

And rewardingly nest

 

But seeing his crib

Put paid to that sleep

On top of the covers

Was a shivering heap

Could it be a ghost

That quivered beneath?

A small impish phantom

With devilish teeth

But thinking the night

Could not get more eerie

Then out crawled the pussy

Slowly and wary

 

The pathetic meow

Emanating from kitty

Evoked in the man

An ocean of pity

In being the salvation

Of the destitute cur

He forgot to consider

The cat’s innate fear

And cuddling now

This trembling fur

Tiptoed inaudibly

Back down the stairs

 

He intended to warm

A little milk in a bowl

To pacify puss

And sweeten her scowl

But passing the lounge door

Was heard in the hall

From the mutt in the blanket

A low rumbling snarl

As jealous a growl as

Any canine had uttered

On seeing his master

Cradling another

 

He leapt from the roll

And onto his feet

As sprite as a deer

Being hunted for meat

And ran at the pair

Aghast at the scene

Of an indigent doggie

Turned horribly mean

His bark carried vigour

One could not have foretold

An hour ago

Crawling in from the cold

 

Growling and snapping

In haphazard circles

The dog sought to replace

His rival in cuddles

Embraced in his arms

The cat swelled its breast

And braced itself tightly

Against the man’s chest

Then eighteen sharp claws

Suddenly punctured his skin

And screeching he flopped

The cat back down again

 

It sprinted away

From the slavering dog

Who was too slow to snare

The cheetah-like mog

But content that he’d put

The scared cat in his place

He sauntered back smug

To the warm fireplace

Upstairs in a cupboard

Among socks, shirts and towels

Burying itself like an ostrich

The quaking Puss cowered

 

Lumbering to bed

The man felt downcast

That his admirable aim

To offer the outcast

The orphan, the weak

A safe sanctuary

With best of intentions

Had turned topsy-turvy

And closing his eyes

On the course of the day

Vowed to be sanguine

I will find a way