Eyes Wide Open

First mouse of the season, caught
just inside the garage. Lured
by peanut butter, as usual,
you couldn’t escape this time.

Your startled visage, pink ears,
pointed snout and bloodshot eyes
greet me, the metal clasp clamped
on your neck, your wiry tail

no longer twitching. Dear creature,
you died at the edge of darkness,
found here in the wakening light.
Had you forgotten to hibernate,

on this first frozen dawn,
your body not yet burrowed
into tunneled safety, ready
to sleep though a Chicago winter?

Peace now, little friend.
I have taken your habitat
and now must bury you,
trapped in wood and wire,

ensnared by human fear,
snapped in two, discarded
in a plastic bag, trashed.
Surprised into death

by your own desire,
you crept in only to taste
the salty sweet seduction
of what you thought you needed.