With the crash of a hard drive his world
was destroyed. In the hall mirror he saw
the field mice eating their way into a plastic bag
With the crash of a bank his world
was destroyed. In the hall mirror he saw
the field mice climbing into an open box of tinsel
With the crash of a car his world was
destroyed. In the hall mirror he saw
the field mice gnawing the electrical insulation
Then his wedding photo was elbowed off the mantel
The crash of the glass woke him. He bought
a dozen mousetraps to address the infestation
In the hall mirror he saw his wife on her knees
nibbling at the soft cheese of meaning
Bill Yarrow is the author of POINTED SENTENCES (BlazeVOX, 2012). His poems have appeared in many print and online magazines including PANK, Poetry International, Confrontation, The Centrifugal Eye, Rio Grande Review, BLIP, Istanbul Literary Review, DIAGRAM, Pif Magazine, Del Sol Review, Blue Fifth Review, and Whale Sound. He is one of the poetry editors of THIS Literary Magazine. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he lives in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. He is a professor of English at Joliet Junior College where he teaches creative writing online, Shakespeare online, and film online.