A Visual Poem

Obituary of a Field Mouse

Field Mouse, Apodemus Sylvaticus
Survived by Lennie, the murderous brute who killed him. And George, who laid him to his rest. But not by Robert whose apology still lingers in our ears. He was a brave mouse. Not afraid of the world, something many men couldn’t truthfully admit to. Lennie, too, is dead. Buried away with watchful tears. He never knew those you cried for him. They only watched and read. George was there, always by his side, hearing his last words. Of plans that never happened. Of a lost hope that was never given up easily. Lennie kept asking, though, to hear the future. And George kept telling. They fooled each other, each time they spoke. But that last time, George told it different. He told it like he knew it wasn’t true. Like he wasn’t fooled by the magic anymore. He knew that it was never going to be. But Lennie believed him. Each and every time, Lennie believed him. Sadly, his noble ignorance is to blame. And he now lies where the field mouse did. Though their paths never crossed. But Robert knew the truth behind the lie, before they were even alive. Robert knew, and Robert wrote, that “the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men ‘often go awry.’”. But he never knew that his apology would be to more than just this mouse.