Poem: Still Life

[debriswoman]

Author: debriswoman
Rating: General
Characters: Holmes, Watson, Hopkins, and four borrowed from thesmallhobbitand okapi1895 ( I hope you don't mind, this poem is for you both)
Word count: 312

Narrator: Mouselet.

Inspired by a Sherlock60 discussion on taxidermy...

Still Life

We froze, just like predators stalking their prey;
Each pose tortured muscle groups, every which way;
A whist game in progress, Jacks low, aces high;
The ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~
My whiskers were tingling, a lingering itch:
My nose seemed determined to wiggle and twitch;
But statues were called for, the rogues were close by
The ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~
The ferret's wrist tendons were feeling the strain;
The deck held aloft in mid deal, it was plain
Each fibre, each blood vessel, stretched to comply;
The ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~
Poor Inky, cards scattered, contracted each quill;
All movements would magnify, hard to keep still;
His pained perseverance, no friend could deny;
The ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~
The ocelot, placing a bet, seemed unfazed;
His tutu unruffled, one paw slightly raised.
But, was that a tear in his unblinking eye?
The ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~
A flurry, a scurry of movement, a chase;
We listened, sound muffled by glass fronted case.
Two shots, several swear words, a valiant cry.
The ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~
Then silence, then rescue; the case opened wide,
With four stiff yet grateful young creatures inside;
A deep simultaneous, shuddering sigh
From the ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~
Mr Holmes, my Inspector, and Watson stared hard
At the small chairs and table, each miniature card;
As we stood, stretching limbs to the wonderful sky;
The ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~
Four diamond stuffed corpses revealed their sad role;
A weasel, a civet, a hedgehog, a vole.
We'd taken their places, in order to spy;
The ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~
Two smugglers in prison, a Baker Street feast;
(A moment, heads bowed, for four victims, deceased.)
A toast with raised glasses, a modest reply
From the ferret, the ocelot, Inky and I.
~0~