"Relocation"

Relocation

We are all still slightly groggy.
My father is outside repotting plants
that we took with us
when we fled to Dreamland.
But the only pots they have here
are Jadeite and they
chip and crack and split
when my father fills them with dirt.

I also brought my pet mouse, Ricky.
I would never leave him behind.
But he’s not in my hands
or in the house.
I can’t see him scurrying along
the baseboards or across
the living room carpet.
He escaped with us intact
but now he is gone and
I don’t know if he’s alive.

Outside, next to the house,
I call him. It is dusk and
the light is dim but out of the
shadows, I see him running
to me in a zig-zag, a flash
of fur, a crazy
rush of happiness.
I pick him up and pet his head.
Maybe things will be
better here after all.

©JEF 2000