The Pet

Hope gnawed at my heart like a hungry rat,
Ran in, ran out of my dreams high-walled,
I heard its scampering feet;
“Pretty rat, pretty rat!” I called,
And scattered it songs to eat.

Hope peeped at me from behind my dreams,
Nibbled the crumbs of my melodies,
Grew tame and sleek and fat;
Ah, but my heart knew ease
To feel the teeth of my rat.

Then came a night, and then a day;
I heard soft feet that scuttled away;
Rats leave the sinking ship, they say.