Requiem for a Mouse

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)
Fallen Caryatid with Stone (1882)
Stanford's Rodin Sculpture Garden

Requiem for a Mouse

You rest on Fallen Caryatid with Stone
at the Stanford Rodin Sculpture Garden.
Your left ear perked listening listening
as if a cat is prowling nearby.

Your serrated tail, six inches long,
straight as a giant pine needle.
Your whiskers standing upright
like mini-incense sticks in sand.

Your coat of fur, matted and drenched
as if you had just come in from the rain.
O dear mouse— did you try to find
cover from the torrential storm?

Did you find this resting place
in the lap of the Great Mother?
If only you knew— Orpheus is next door,
he sings a song for you so you'll run again.

Peter Y. Chou
Stanford Rodin Garden, 11-13-2002