'To a Mouse' by Kenneth Calman
Jan 2014
On seeing a mouse between the rails at Euston Underground station
Wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie
There’s nae panic in thy breastie
Thou didna start awa sae hasty
In Euston Underground Station
I certainly couldna chase thee
Across the rails.
I watched thee, and saw the train arrive
Nibblin’ awa just tae survive
As the Carriages came in
Ye mesmerised my brain
But I could do nothing to help
With you beneath the train
I’m truly sorry man’s changing science
Has disrupted your alliance
With nature
And changed the union here
‘Tween man and mouse
Deep underground
Your house I glimpsed it in the wall
A tiny hole, but then you’re small
And can escape
Your bairnies there, cosy and good
Waiting for you to scrounge for food
From daily commuters
Above the rails and platform, what a story
You see humanity above in all its glory
And what a sicht
Squeezed thegether in an awfu crowd
Reading, eating, talking so loud
Unconcerned wi’ you
Am I blest compared wi you
As I board the tube to waterloo?
On the Northern line
You’re warm and fed, and have no computers
And have come to terms with London commuters
I still have some way to go
I have more travels and decisions to take
While you are safe at home, eating discarded cake
And with the family
I have creeping old age, and joints which creak
Hingin’ thegether from week to week
And look forward to an uncertain future.