Another poisoned squirrel hits the street,
stopping short your jaunty midday tread.
The city lays its secrets at your feet.
 
It rots more still and slow than fallen leaves;
the resting pose as definite as lead.
Another poisoned squirrel hits the street.
 
Classic mixup: rat for squirrel, bait for feed.
POISON, posters scold, PROTECT YOUR PET.
The city lays its secrets at your feet.
 
Someone went too far, we all agreed,
and left the vermin running wild instead!
And yet, a poisoned squirrel hits the street,
 
so stiff, so angular, no longer sweet,
the stare indecent on the outsize head.
The city lays its secrets at your feet—
 
you learn how light your step is, how discreet,
how intricate the alleys of your dread.
Another poisoned squirrel hits the street.
The city lays its secrets at your feet.

*****

Anushka Sen writes: “This poem was inspired by a rat-induced furore in Rogers Park, my Chicago neighborhood. Someone (or some people) had finally flipped a switch and started putting out rat poison indiscriminately. The poem takes off from that point. It seems relevant to me all over again, since I’m now encountering a slew of dead birds. Residential life is built on a gnarly underbelly.”

‘Good Neighborhood’ was originally publlished in the current Rat’s Ass Review.

Anushka Sen is originally from Kolkata, India and now teaches English Literature at Loyola University, Chicago. She is drawn to musicality, animals, and a strong sense of place in art. She occasionally translates from Bengali to English and her poems (original and translated) have been published in Rust and Moth the Asymptote blog, and Eunoia Review, among other places.

Photo: “Alvin? Alvin? Alvin?” by lionelvaldellon is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.