there’s another slaughtered shrew
laid by my bedroom door today
another sacrificial offering
from our alley cat forever intent
on her destruction of all wildlife
perhaps she’s nipped the throat
of this tiny blameless rodent
as usual it still feels warm
but registers as lifeless
when I pick the poor creature up
the coup de grace alas
becomes apparent only
when I lay the corpse to rest
somewhere in the killing field
our innocent garden has become
this latest mini murder reveals
nature red in tooth and claw
as our Lordly Poet did proclaim
but my grief is so brief
it might as well not happen
now the toll of war dead
on every radio station
diminishes each and every death:
statistics show no feeling
indifference so revealing
Jeff Cloves
Photo: Ultimate incarnation
Tiggy
by Nick Victor
.