Tooth & Claw
the house reeks of rotting rats
which I guess is progress
they had gotten bold
chewing through infrastructure, infesting the cavities
and like family
who can outstay a pre-arranged welcome
nature is enough, through the window
too much, when sharing your home
and to trap the bait
in well travelled passageways, was a friendly kind of slaughter
now alone, I re-take my home
incense masks brutal nature
one must be the master
rats are not beautiful
Gareth Writer-Davies: Shortlisted for the Bridport Prize (2014 and 2017) Commended Prole Laureate Competition (2015) Prole Laureate (2017) Commended Welsh Poetry Competition (2015) Highly Commended (2017) His collection The Lover’s Pinch (Arenig Press) published 2018. He is a Hawthorndon Fellow for 2019