A Rat's Lament Poem by Francis Duggan

With human man I know no peace or ease
To him I'm just a spreader of disease
He kill my kin and wage war against me
As if I were his greatest enemy.

Wish I were born a dog or even cat
Instead of what I am a brown haired rat
Then I'd not have to live much like a mole
And spend most of my life in deep dark hole.

Most of my kin are victims of man's hate
They pay with life for eating his bane bait
In such a World it's hard for rat's survive
And in such a World it's hard to stay alive

I'm just a rat nine times bigger than a mouse
I hide each day in my dark and earthy house
And each night whilst sleeping farmer snores in bed
I eat my fill of grain in his grain shed.