Your pelt is the color
Of a charred house
And a recent snow
Thin whiskers protruding
Gently flow from your cheeks
A pair of miniscule ears
Detecting every sound

You walk ever so awkwardly
As if just learning how
To the plastic red food dish
In pursuit of a Cheerio
With your dainty paws
Grasp the oat grain cereal
And nibble with puny sharp incisors

Wash down the bland taste
With a lick of clean water
Not yet efficiently familiar
With the water container
That has transformed
Into a baby rat shower

A teeny tongue licking your paws
Work them over a drenched face
The makeshift towel
Soon pushes the wet away
A littermate approaches
Stalking in an artless manner
Playful tumbles, nips, and slaps

The aromatic pine bed
Flies around the rat apartment
Siblings pause briefly to observe
The domination of your opponent
Groom your fur with dignity
With a swish of your bristly tail
Hidden mosaics intricately etched by hand

You strut to screen door
And squeak a baby greeting
Sniff the tip of my finger
Turn with a curious thought
Then bounce off to the tunnels
Colored bright green, orange and red