1949

Dissecting the Rat

I am writing up today's experiment.
I write down the word  rat.
I say the word.

It's a catagory.
It's not longer the real rat
that used to rattle noisily around cage three.

The word itself
only creates an imaginary rat,
a combination of sound and image.

As I entered the laboratory this morning
I noticed a rat radiant in the sun
like a fiery furnace.

I named it Daniel,
but religion was just a necessary phase.
Science and experimentation is the way forward.

Through the glass window of the killing box
I observed the rat's final moments.
It didn’t appear to suffer.

I had not watched the gassing proceedure before,
choosing rather to lay out instruments
and watch the clock.

But as the scalpel’s sure blade
layed bare the inner organs of the rat
I experienced a sudden sense of sadness .

1949

1949