Set a Mousetrap? Don't Set a Moustrap?

Yes or No?

by Amy LV

Poem # 212

Students - there are some moments in life which strike us two ways, which give us an ambivalent feeling, a mixed-two-way-feeling.  I had one of these moments the other day.  We live way out in the country, and at this time of year, the mice begin to creep into every hole in our old house.  They appear in places you don't want mice: in the burners of the stove, on the counter top beside the coffee pot, running across the dining room floor.  They are so cute, but they do carry diseases.  And while one mouse is adorable, hundreds are a bit scary.

Two nights ago, my husband set some mousetraps.  I don't check traps.  Traps make me sad.  I don't want to hear the snaps, and I don't want to kill mice.  But I don't want to live with a mouse civilization either.  After Mark set the traps out, one of our children asked, "Dad, are those the traps that catch the mice live or the ones that kill them?"

It was quiet for a few moments, and the gentle question hung in the air for a bit before Mark and I both answered honestly, "These traps kill."  You know what?  That is still bothering me.

Have you ever had a confused feeling about something?  Is there something about which you can see both sides?  If so, this might be an interesting place to begin a writing piece.  Even writing about your confusion may help you clarify your own beliefs and help you understand who you are and what you think is true.

As for mice, I'm just not sure.  I still see both sides.  My side.  Their side.  Life can be tricky this way.  Adults wrestle with these things too.

Tomorrow I am tickled to welcome my old friend, teacher Sallye Norris, along with her first graders and class pet...Hairy the tarantula.  Please visit for our seventh Classroom Poetry Peek tomorrow - Poetry Friday!

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