The Invasion of Rats

In Tobia in the year of 1938,
January 9th being the exact date,
The people were filled with a sense of dread,
A terrible time was just ahead.

What happened to them the very next day,
Threw everything into a state of disarray,
Nothing was like it was before,
When a boat washed up on the eastern shore.

Thousands of rats jumped onto the sand,
And quickly proceeded into the land,
Some were skinny and some were fat,
But each was a big old ugly rat.

And soon the people were to find,
These rats were not the ordinary kind,
Each one of them was able to walk,
And stranger yet they all could talk.

"We want to live in your land" they said,
"We won't bother you if you keep us fed,
It's important to us that you must know,
We have no place else where we can go".

"We want that you will understand,
That we were kicked out of our land,
We're the rats that are dirty and ugly and mean,
Always in trouble and very unclean".

But some of the rats were very polite,
They did all they could to avoid a fight,
"Excuse me", they said, "we don't mean to intrude,
We want to live in your homes and eat your food".

Others were mean as they came trough the door,
"Serve us", they said, "Or we'll bring many more,
Give us your beds and give us your food,
We're all in a hungry rotten mood".

Soon the people cried out to Emma the Queen,
"These rats are big and ugly and mean,
They're ruining our lives, they've pushed us aside",
But Emma just laughed as she replied.

"In Tobia the rats are very few,
Just ignore them and they won't bother you,
In the castle we've always had our share,
And sometimes they give us a little scare".

"But these rats", they said, "We cannot ignore,
You've never seen rats like this before,
They walk and they talk and they're very smart,
they all look alike, we can't tell them apart".

"Talking rats? It's absurd" Emma said,
"And rats certainly don't sleep in a bed,
I say as your queen who sits on the throne,
Go back to your homes and leave me alone".

That very night Emma woke up in bed,
She'd heard a noise very close to her head,
"Eustace, she cried, "There's a rat in our room,
Please get rid of it with a broom".

"He's big and fat and not very clean,
He's the biggest rat I've ever seen",
But Eustace ran screaming towards the door,
And tripped and fell right on the floor.

Then the rat sat down on top of his head,
"Give me your crown right now", he said,
"I'm the new king" he said with a grin,
Don't try to fight me, You'll never win".

Eustace was shaking in great fear,
He said, "Emma, please help me my dear,
Take my crown, rat, it's right over there,
Sitting on top of that great big chair.

"Wait', screamed Emma, as loud as can be,
"I can't believe this is happening to me,
But now I'm beginning to understand,
You're one of those rats that invaded our land".

"Bazo's my name", exclaimed the rat,
"And don't you ever forget that",
"I'm the king of the rats if you must know,
And they'll follow me wherever I go".

"You see there was a problem that plagued the land,
A problem of types which could never be planned,
The jails and the prisons were quite overflowing,
And the number of rats in jail kept on growing."

"So my wife the queen she signed a decree,
To allow some of the us rats in jail to go free,
But we must live our lives in some other land,
From Baga we would forever be banned."

"So she commissioned a ship to take us away,
To an unknown land where we could stay,
We sailed away far to the west,
The dirty, the ugly, the mean and the rest."

"Stop", screamed Emma as loud as she could,
"What you are saying does not sound good,
Why were you one among the jailed?,
And what do you want in my land where you've sailed?".

"I suppose", said Bazo, "I offended my queen",
In the presence of a pretty rat I was seen,
Now that we're here we feel we deserve,
That we should rule and you should serve".

"Get out", screamed Emma, "You'll never beat me",
"Yes I will", cried Bazo, "You will see",
Then Emma declared "This means war",
And Bazo retreated back out the door.

Copyright Dan Olds 1998