It’s this rat

is the thing

but let me get there first

The janitor

his name is Eros

he was cleaning the bathrooms

the bathrooms of the school

Eros was cleaning bathrooms

finished cleaning bathrooms

The rat

it has no name

it’s a rat

The rat scurried out to see the fuss

Eros was making over

stall #4

Eros rolled his cart out of there

just as the rat bounced out

from underneath sink #1

from the crack between tile and 

coupling nut

There was the rat

in the room

when Eros pulled open the 

door

Well

thought the rat

I came to see the fuss

and there it goes

thought the rat

Rat paws scampering across tile

a clickety-clack to the rat

Angel of the Morning in Eros’s ear

thoughts of grape soda

from vending machine #3

in the courtyard of the 

escuela he attended

lifetimes ago

To the rat

Eros is one of the !

Eros and all his kind

!

the rat sees a !

pulling open the 

door

The fuss

thought the rat

what was the fuss?

The cart

the cart’s the thing

thought the rat

There’s the

door

yawning mouth

The rat is nearly to the !

cart rumbles through

! does a little jig through

The fuss, the fuss

Door

swinging shut

Rat race

Eros around the corner

thoughts of

No, he’s gone

Door

swinging shut

squeaking

at the rat

!

thinks the rat

Door

shuts

on 

rat

Rat has never been conscious of diaphragm. It is now, as diaphragm, spleen, liver, and stomach squish.

Pop!

Space normally reserved in a rat for small and large intestines, as well as the caecum, is invaded by the lower half of the rat, beginning with the diaphragm.

Door

is heavy

keeps pressing

Towards the front end of things, the rat’s lungs, ventricles, and right atrium implode from pressure released by the popping of the stomach, then explode shortly after due to a sudden shift from the left atrium.

Further up

The thymus (and thyroid, actually, even further) gland, esophagus, and trachea meet the larynx and submaxillary salivary gland in an internally bloody sort of way.

The face looks like a rat’s face

more pain than average

but the face

is a rat’s face

Eros drinks grape soda

in his pickup

outside the gas station

not between school and home

He smiles at something related to his life that, if stated out of context, would come across as trivial, insignificant, or, possibly worst of all, cute, but is, within the context of his own life, one of the most significant and hopeful something’s he’s ever smiled at.

It takes the rat six hours to die

It’s not tomorrow yet

but when it comes

janitor needed

south hallway

men’s #2

dead rat