King of the Rats

King of the Rats

Was it the filthiest?
The first to spread
the plague? Or maybe the best
at being trapped, setting precedence
for future rats. I like to think the King
of the Rats was the one
that lead comrades onto the cruise
ship, that boat that was abandoned (on account
of all the rats)

The King of the Rats didn’t partake
in the ensuing orgy, the buffet, Caligula
jerking somewhere in his grave. The King
waited, got hungry before the other
rats did. The King used babies as bait
& dessert afterwards.

When the cruise washed ashore
on an uninhabited island, the King walked,
surveyed his domain.

Died in a week from starvation
on a throne made of the glowing
incisions of interruption.