Muddy Mouse

Muddy Mouse (a)

Relatively used to coping with the darkness underground
Cub and brownie blink as they emerge.
Overhead the stars are piercing, glaring on their new home.
Wasted jungle, crowded with dead trees.

Muddy Mouse (b)

What do cubs and brownies do at night after a boring day?
Shine their boots and practice tying knots? No of course not
After school you find they play hide and seek, chase each other, clutching in the dark.

Muddy Mouse (c)

What do Ann and Handy do after a long, exhausting shift?
Clean the spades and clear away the dirt? No of course not
Usually they lie down in the mud close together, just to save on heat
Work is split up, but it gets harder every day, it’s never done.
Call it peaceful. Call it grinding the time away. Say that
Ditches aren’t homely. Call it boredom. Either way,
Ann decides to potter off. How’s that for brains?