Twas the Night Before Last

Twas the night before last
And there in my flat
Making serious noises
Was a very large rat

The kids were in bed
Wife on the phone
As a rat sat there watching me
Writing this tome

I walked over to it
And dropped it some bread
Then to my amazement
It nodded its head

I nodded right back
And swear that it smiled
Not what I’d expect
If this creature was wild

So it seems I have found
A rat that is tame
No idea what I
Might do with the same

“Do you speak, my friend?”
I asked of the rat
He nodded his head
And I acknowledged that

He mumbled some words
To me as he sat
But what did he say?
I could not catch that

So I smiled back at him
As if I understood
But from the look he gave me
I knew it wasn’t good

“What’s got you down, my friend?”
I asked of the rodent
He mumbled again
And it seemed perhaps cogent

So down on my knees
With my ear to his face
I asked what the problem was
And he said, “The Rat Race”