Inklings 2023

RAT. Tea Vallone ’24 His stale snack turns to art He discovers his missing piece The blue jumps off the page and into his heart He sets off in search of where the incessant gnawing will cease The small weevil gathers his pigments He sets off on his journey to the colored land afar He crawls down from the tomato paste and bypasses the iron supplements And slides down the greasy peanut butter jar He steps into the light and can’t believe his little eyes He sees patterned tiles lining the walls Smells the freshly baked rhubarb pies Pulled out of the oven by a giant woman in overalls The small weevil sits down to illustrate He draws the gingham curtains and the Teflon pan He wants to show the other bugs. He cannot wait For maybe their mindless nature would change if they knew of man He hopes his art will open the cupboard door To show the bugs the beauty in light so maybe they might live for more More than a constant bite The weevil trudges back to the city And holds his canvas up to the sky He bellows for the attention of the committee The attention of every roach and every fly But the chewing never stops They don’t even look up to see When the weevil screeches, hollers, and yawps … and they would never know what the world could be 37