Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2008 - 10:12 p.m.
The World Behind the Cabinet
******************************
I was sitting at my desk
minding my own business
reading over a proposal
for spelling mistakes
and a chipmonk ran past
A chipmonk inside my studio..
this would have never happened
if Jinky was still here
because he can catch chipmonks
I figgured he would just go back
out through the hole he came in
but then I heard papers rustle
& I knew he was
somewhere inside still
Then pal Matt came over
to work on the proposal
and as we sat quietly reading
the chipmonks rustled t unseen papers
and whistled some low soft note
I followed the sound to behind an old cabinet
I keep rocks, crap & vague computer parts in
as I approached the cabinet
I could hear chipmonks fussing & whistling again
when I carefully pulled the cabinet
out tumbled a full litre of sunflower seed hulls
and what looked like some macaronis
and standing by them on tip toes
was a fat agitated chipmonk
ready to defend his larder & girlfriend
against all comers..
We whispered encouragements
and assured him that
we would not disturb his family
and opened the sliding door a few inches
so they could make good
their escape outside
I wonder now, if the sounds of
what i thought were squirrels
in the walls all winter was actually
a colony of chipmonks
and if what i imagined
was the night time sounds
of mice nibbling away at who knows what
was actually chipmonks
dining on stolen macaronis
liberated from the cubboard
last autumn Jinky would sometimes
stare at the wall
between the kitchen and the studio
in the late evenings with great intensity
as if he could detect some life
going on inside that wall
he would often hear things
i couldn't hear
and noticed things
I didn't notice
and smelled things
I had absolutely no interest in
Now with Jinky not around these days
the chipmonk society has become
very bold and their hidden suburbs
have now spilled out into the light
and they have set up a nation under
a storage cabinet in the corner
I hope they take the hint and move outside
if they do i will feed them outside
maybe they so enjoyed the peanuts
I left out for them in the deep snow
they just decided to move right inside
the treasure cave of the giants
whatever their reasons
I will have to encourage them to move on
because if jinky returns to find chipmonks
living in the open in the studio here
he will go crazy and maybe slay them all
Its not everybody
who has a loyal pet
who will defend macaroni
to the death
