{"id":135,"date":"2013-12-02T01:39:19","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T05:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/?p=135"},"modified":"2023-03-02T03:27:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T07:27:04","slug":"a-noise-in-the-attic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/?p=135","title":{"rendered":"a noise in the attic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Explication:\u00a0<\/strong> I wrote this at the prompting of my friend and neighbor John, who was describing an issue that one of our mutual neighbors was having with critters in her attic.\u00a0 She evidently hadn’t known she had mice in the attic until she noticed the snakes making their way to what was for them a snack bar; I decided to explore this to its logical conclusion – and incorporate John in the story.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Something went thump, or bang, or squeak,
\nWhere the boxes and baffles are kept,
\nAnd I was too scared to go up for a peek
\nSo I sent up the old man instead.<\/p>\n

“What do you see?” I asked of him,
\n“With your flashlight beam so bright?”
\n“It’s only a mouse, wee timorous thing,”
\nHe said, “no cause for a fright.”<\/p>\n

Something went thump, or bang, or squeak,
\nWhere the old books and hatpins are kept,
\nAnd I was too scared to go up for a peek
\nSo I sent up the old man instead.<\/p>\n

“What do you see?” I asked of him,
\n“With your candlestick so bright?”
\n“It’s a only snake, with a taste for mice,”
\nHe said, “no cause for a fright.”<\/p>\n

Something went thump, or bang, or squeak,
\nWhere the costumes and clap-boards are kept,
\nAnd I was too scared to go up for a peek
\nSo I sent up the old man instead.<\/p>\n

“What do you see?” I asked of him,
\n“With your lantern lit so bright?”
\n“It’s an owl, with a penchant for snakes,”
\nHe said, “no cause for a fright.”<\/p>\n

Something went thump, or bang, or squeak,
\nWhere the old shoes and secrets are kept,
\nAnd I was too scared to go up for a peek
\nSo I sent up the old man instead.<\/p>\n

“What do you see?” I asked of him,
\n“With your electric torch so bright?”
\n“It’s only a cat, in an owl-feathered hat,”
\nHe said, “no cause for a fright.”<\/p>\n

Something went thump, or bang, or squeak,
\nWhere the dust and diamonds are kept,
\nAnd I was too scared to go up for a peek
\nSo I sent up the old man instead.<\/p>\n

“What do you see?” I asked of him,
\n“With your hurricane lamp so bright?”
\n“It’s a fox, with a cat-tailed grin,”
\nHe said, “no cause for a fright.”<\/p>\n

Something went thump, or bang, or squeak,
\nWhere the furs and the memories are kept,
\nAnd I was too scared to go up for a peek
\nSo I sent up the old man instead.<\/p>\n

“What do you see?” I asked of him,
\n“With your penlight beam so bright?”
\n“It’s just a coyote, with a fox-fur stole,”
\nHe said, “no cause for a fright.”<\/p>\n

Something went thump, or bang, or squeak,
\nWhere the tchotchkes and clutter are kept,
\nAnd I was too scared to go up for a peek
\nSo I sent up the old man instead.<\/p>\n

“What do you see?” I asked of him,
\n“With your lighter that flickers so bright?”
\n“It’s just a bear, lying down for a nap,”
\nHe said, “no cause for a fright.”<\/p>\n

Something went thump, or bang, or squeak,
\nWhere the dolls and the doilies are kept,
\nAnd I was too scared to go up for a peek
\nSo I sent up the old man instead.<\/p>\n

“What do you see?” I asked of him,
\n“With your beacon that shines so bright?”
\n“It’s a tree, grown tall with leaves and all,”
\nHe said, “no cause for a fright.”<\/p>\n

Something went thump, or bang, or squeak,
\nWhere the treasures and dreams are kept,
\nAnd I was too scared to go up for a peek
\nSo I sent up the old man instead.<\/p>\n

“What do you see?” I asked of him,
\n“With your eyes that gleam so bright?”
\n“A giraffe, and he’s eating those leaves,”
\nHe said, “no cause for a fright.”<\/p>\n

“No cause for a fright?” I asked, aghast.
\n“There’s a giraffe in my attic up there!”<\/p>\n

“No, no cause for a fright,” he said,
\n“Unless he wakes up that bear.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Explication:\u00a0 I wrote this at the prompting of my friend and neighbor John, who was describing an issue that one of our mutual neighbors was having with critters in her…<\/p>\n

Continue readinga noise in the attic<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[23,22],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":703,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions\/703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freerangepoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}