Epiphany

After a timed access, A trip back to the country, The beast appeared. 'A present from Dad, ' my son said. 'I'm going to keep it.' A statement, not a plea. It lay at the foot of the bag, A closed comma. Musky, The colour of honey Around the tail. A grown ferret. The eyes, two hard pink nails Hammered the lid on its thought. Straight off as I lifted it It bit me down to the bone, A message from its master. Spite carrier? Loss-stater? Pet? A ferret trilogy. It stayed. I fed it. Loved it even, in its red cage Where it raged at everything, Snapping at the mesh, A one-sided argument Behind the hum of the TV, The clatter of spoons, It haunted the city garden, breeding guilt I thought of cubs dragged from the den, Claws cut, teeth filed, The scent all wrong, The way to the woods bricked up.