Mouse Tale

We have an unwanted mouse in our house But am I permitted to kill it? No is the answer My son suggested I leave the back door open So it could let it self out when it was ready My wife wants me to buy a humane trap So I can catch it, release it, and catch it again next week How confused we are of what animals are We have this romantic notion of the animal kingdom That they are just like humans but in animal form We have endowed the beasts with human qualities Beatrix Potter’s tales are a classic example of this Stories spoon fed to young eager minds for decades Mice do not live in houses, watch TV or play scrabble It’s just a mouse, its vermin, and it’s eating my food They have been humanised in a century of cartoons In that undignified way we have Disney-fied them Well we need to un-Disneyfy the creatures double quick So I have baited my trap and I will wait for the snap Because Mice don’t live in houses especially not in mine