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The Hamster
In the children’s room at the public library
a porky hamster spends his days
in a cage that barely accommodates him.
In so small a space he endures a spartan
existence behind glass walls with no privacy
with the barest of necessities:
a plastic water cup, another for food,
a treadwheel for exercise, and a rug
of wood shavings to burrow under
to sleep or to hide from the prying eyes
of children pressing their curious faces
against the glass.
His tolerance for so much self-denial
is enviable. What seems really cruel,
though, is that he’s surrounded by
shelves of books the little runt can’t
even read! Now that would have
an avid reader like me climbing walls.
Copyright ©
Maurice Rigoler
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