A Poem a Day Keeps the Zoloft Away

One day,

the gypsy grandfather had

to tell the gypsy children

why the gypsy father was put in jail.

“Children

Once upon a time,

an Owl caught a mouse.

The mouse yelled at the

owl to stop, stop eating me

and crushing my bones,

the owl arched an eyebrow,

finding the mouse peculiar for

having the capacity to speak,

so half uneaten,

the mouse was placed on the branch

from which the owl was perched,

“Why would you do this?”

“Because I was hungry

and my ancestors before me did so,

this is the way of the owl.”

“But I can’t die, I have a family.”

“And I can die, from not eating.”

So the Owl ate the Mouse,

the world did not care one way or the other,

the forest was silent,

always silent the forest is.”

The grandchildren were confused,

“Children, if you’re born a mouse,

be wary of the Owls for they

have no pity,

and the rest of the forest

will not help you.”

#301