Sonnet VII, from Immoral Sonnets, published in Sonnets, 1999, Grey Suit Editions

x

Two families of rats were placed inside

Some rooms which set a limit to their space.

Adequately housed, they multiplied;

Indeed, their population grew apace.

Next, overcrowding caused them to decide

That segregated rooms would not disgrace

Their nature, and each quartered in the place

Allotted them. All mating was decried.

Instead the males chose only to embrace

Their brothers, just as on the female side

The same behaviour also now applied,

Though several sat alone, without a trace

Of interest in their gender or their race:

Since when the whole community has died.