dead rat
already stiff
by my car tire
i never hit you
nor bore you malice
intact
it seems you
were prey
of neither cat nor hawk
your black
eyes shine
reflecting a late
afternoon sun
you were never
my friend
but i wonder
if you were poisoned
or just looking for shade
and if you knew today’s dawn
was your last
Words and Feathers 
surprisingly poignant, given my feelings about this rodent. last lines end things up just perfectly.
I have a similar set of feelings for squirrels, though I actually feel more animosity for them since they have adequate food yet keep pinching my peaches.
“pinching my peaches” – now there’s a double entendre
As intended!
I love this!
It reminds me of the dead roof rat I found and brought home to my pregnant mother when I was 6 years old. My fellah was whitish-gray, fully intact, in rigor mortis, with bloody eyes (probably poison, right?). Whatever motive I might’ve had for scooping him up in my little hand and taking him home has been blotted out entirely by the sound of my mom’s screams that echo in my skull to this day…
My daughter once saved a dead lizard in a plastic bag. I didn’t want to discourage her, but I insisted it stay outside.
Perhaps your cat left the rat for you? Perhaps he wanted to leave this message: Be wheel. 😊
My cat wishes she could go outside rat hunting. 🐀
Ah, then you may have a secret admirer.
Like the scene in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
I watched that movie a long, long time ago. It’s weird that I can remember books I’ve read in elementary school but have a hard time recalling movies watched a decade ago.
All I remember is Bette Davis serving a rat to her sister.
Damn! I need to watch it again.
Poor rat.
Yeah…
Shall we ever?
Aft gang agley
Especially after a glass or two. 🙂
Ha