the minnesota review n.s. 61-62 (2004)

Greg Fraser

Warning the Rodents


how much longer

	sweet opossum

		keen-nosed rat



do you suppose the spotted

	darkness moon-beaked

		clasping the horizon's limb



will go on sleeping before

	the hunger of its black holes

		opens orbs huger than suns . . .



be prepared to scamper

	keep the deepest of covers

		already the midnight dreams



of a fete to cinch all fetes

	to which you are each invited

		chipmunk weasel mole



already the hour greets you

	rabbit mouse of the field

		in a foyer hung with laughter



the chandeliers of stars-

	unbuttons and takes (obliging

		butler) your soft fur coats . . .




Gregory Fraser's first book of poems, Strange Pieta, was a two-time finalist for the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American poets. He is an assistant professor of English at the State University of West Georgia.