On Behalf of Rats

In sewers, where the filth canal flows by,

A rat presides beneath a concrete sky.

I’ve named him not for rats do not pretend

To need a name and nor to be your friend.

 

He's canny of this scene and knows the way,

The goldfish upside down come every day,

Coins also, worthless to him as a name,

That fell from cosy pockets down the drain.

 

If happenstance he lucks upon a crust,

His repertoire has never known disgust

Though maggoty and mouldy be his grub,

It’s not prestige that typifies his club.

 

Survival is his reputation’s game,

A sewer and a kitchen are the same,

Unwanted he appropriates our muck,

Unparalleled in competence and pluck.

 

An ingrate ape, I’ll duly tip my hat

On sight of that necessity, the rat-

Metropolis has challenged fauna’s grit

That’s humbled us by mastering the pit.

 

The rat deserves the name of man's best friend

For rats need not a name and don't pretend

Subjacent helplessness for master’s praise-

You both are tantamount within your maze.