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The Union of the Rats
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By: Nick Harvey
(School of Earth and Environmental Sciences)
Competition Year: 2017 Votes (1) | Comments (0) |
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day after day,
week after week,
month after month.
The rats followed the music,
obediently traipsing,
after the prancing clogs,
and the sweetness of the pipe.
They trotted along,
lowly and meek,
knowing not why they followed,
and yet sure that's where they belong.
Until on one rainy Tuesday,
one of the rats,
young, headstrong and bold,
asked “why should I follow?”
“There are so many of us rats,
and only one piper.
What power does he has over us?
What spell does he weave?”
So this rat,
he took out his soapbox,
he perched himself upon it,
and he began to talk.
As the rats filed past,
in the wake of the piper,
he squeaked at them,
passion raging in his tiny breast.
He squeaked and squeaked,
he railed and ranted,
he argued and pleaded,
until his squeak turned into croak.
The rats stopped to listen,
they gathered around,
and began to cheer the oration,
of this leader amongst rats.
Upon this Tuesday,
the rats came together,
they realised their power,
and the Union of the Rats was born.
Better pay!
Maternity leave, our litters are huge!
Opportunity for promotion!
Holiday pay!
The piper piped to no avail,
until he was blue in the face,
but his music inspired no devotion,
he had lost his power.
He was furious,
but without the rats,
he was merely a man,
skipping along with a hollow stick.
The piper was cowed,
he realised he was nothing,
without the following rats,
and it was now to them that he bowed.
