Fragments on the Death of a Muskrat

A POEM

By David N. Beauregard, O.M.V. | November 1983

Ballpeened by a bumper,

Struck down by steel,

Bowled hard over pavement,

Done in with a wheel.

O cinders, O gators, O gadabout hens,

O children with maces and pigs in clean pens,

Please arrest, I do pray you,

Your primordial urge

To pause in sad convocation

And sing this rat’s dirge.

Fragments on the Death of a Muskrat

Ballpeened by a bumper,

Struck down by steel,

Bowled hard over pavement,

Done in with…

Turning

“Alas, I cannot find my God,” Man said

Blind with seeking, all but garroted

By…

Parting

Let the air be taken from me;

Let no water touch my tongue.

Though my…