For today’s NaPoWriMo prompt, we are invited to wax lyrical on something affecting at least three of the five senses. This invites a rhapsodic eulogy on the joys to be experienced from sight, smell, sound, touch and taste.
With having had to dash to Pinetown for stocks, and then to the print shop re some cartridges too mean to dislodge their ink, and then to R’s regular swimming lesson, and knowing we are leaving early to go to a show tonight, it didn’t leave much time for scribbling. Still, I’m sure the sheer beauty of the images in this offering will astound and delight.

A rat I saw slink up a rafter,
And wondered just what he was after;
Looked tatty, not fat,
And one could tell that
‘Twas some sort of sewer that rat had been at
By testing the perfume that wafted behind –
The odour was such as a person might find
Inside a latrine;
It smelt quite obscene;
And thus one knew, as I have said, where he’d been.
His pelt felt all sticky and yucky
And just as it looked, which was mucky;
In fact, to the touch,
It was rather such
As turds and whey, mashed up a little too much;
His squeak was discordant, and injured the ear:
It wasn’t a sound that was pleasant to hear …
And as for the taste,
I was in no haste
To try it out; therefore that rat went to waste.
© Colonialist April 2014 (WordPress)
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About colonialist
Active septic geranium who plays with words writing fantasy novels and professionally editing, with notes writing classical music, and with riding a mountain bike, horses and dinghies. Recently Indie Publishing has been added to this list.
What show did you go to last night? We went to see ‘A handful of keys’ and it was absolutely brilliant. Thanks for sharing your rat experience, I think. ;?
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You will find my review, now. Methinks we should have gone to the keys one.
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Yup, tasting the rat would have been several stages too far…thanks for the chuckle, Col 😀
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Going into that aspect would have been in extremely bad taste, in fact!
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Rats “shudders”
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Poor much-maligned little creatures …
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Rats are certainly in the news right now. In the UK there seem to many as big as cats. wouldn’t fancy coming face to face with one of them, day or night
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I imagine those come from escaped pets and are not overfed normal ones!
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good question
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Fun rhyme time, Col.
Glad you didn’t commemorate its taste.
My dad had a problem with rats while in Korea. Doing some research today revealed a photo of a rat dish served in parts of Asia.
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There is a type of ‘rat’ here, called a cane rat, which is very popular as a curry. ‘Cane lat cully and lice!’
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Sounds awful . . . perfect for this “taste less” rhyme.
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Delicious, by all accounts – but I take their word for it!
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Oh I love it! Pawesome! Mum used to have pet rats! Shame we don’t have them anymore!
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I hope that isn’t because you dined on them!
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Buerk (which is French for Yuk) I really hope you didn’t actually touch it. Weil’s disease wouldn’t be funny at all.
As for the poem: as usual, brilliant rhyming.
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Thanks! Written in some haste, and I have just dickied it up a bit.
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Firstly, eeek!
Secondly, I have heard rat is a delicacy in Thailand…
Thirdly, great piece as always – made me chuckle!
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Firstly, indeed so!
Secondly, but ‘They are Siamese, if you Plea-ease!’
Thirdly, thanks for saying so!
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Eeeeeek!
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Profoundly observed!
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Probably just needed some TLC, and it would have made a great pet (a la Pam, in the Golden Compass).
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I would prefer to pass. Upwind!
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Eeek…rodents!
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Indeed so! One, anyway.
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Did I ever tell you about the day I kneecapped a Rat? The things you learn living in Northern Ireland!
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That is certainly a rare skill!
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I have one in my apple tree on occasion.Well don yuck, get a cat 😉
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I remember introducing a couple of our home cats to deal with the rat problem at daughter’s rural property. The cats watched them cavorting, but only displayed vague interest before becoming bored and pushing off.
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yucky, yucky ..that was very mucky…for a rat
the least said about that smelly stinky slimy rodent….
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You think there was too much information? 🙂
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