You must now be quite familiar
With the ways in which mice travel
All over under the stubble
In the newly-harvested fields.
The tracks are quite clear
And nearly all the same: mousy
You are likely to catch your mouse
On one track as on any other.
First of all,
Of course, you must have the tools
– Your flat stone, the size of a chair-seat
Your two ten-inch-long sticks
(The straight one is called the male
And the Y-shaped one is the female.)
Then the bit of strong string
With the matchstick-sized trigger
Tied to the end of the string
And the trap – a thin long straw
With the bait (preferably peanut butter) on it.
But second and most important of all,
Now I should really stop here
Because,
This is not really about
Setting up a mousetrap
This is about you:
Your total attention
The sincerity of your heart
To send the message to the sensitivity
At the tips of your fingers
Remember: the little mouse’s mother
Is teaching her child to look
At any tell-tale signs in the grass
And use her nose.
You need yourself tied up in a tight ball –
You need in a word,
All your balls!
You must get into the mind
Of the poor little mouse.
You must be the mouse.