Subject

I've never seen a guinea pig.
Rats, they say,
are cheaper -- being everywhere.

He was one.
A rat in black's authority
black hearted.
Trespassing, arrogantly
thinking me dull,
soft, stupid.
Oh, I was ignorant
didn't know
that justice was an illusion
that life
was a matter of survival
in this rat
race.
He did not survive my justice.
I will not survive theirs.
"Plead guilty, and they'll be
lenient."
Terribly
lenient.
How long to live without defence?

I've never seen a guinea pig
But I've been one.

-- Kathryn A