On mice, by Rob Walton

Mice are small.
The chocolate ones are often white.
The ones in other colours
may not be chocolate.
So don’t eat them.
Unless you’re an Ancient Roman.
Which is unlikely.
There are harvest mice.
They help bring the corn in.
I think there are door mice.
If I said there were window mice
you’d probably see through the joke.
Jerry is the mouse in Tom and Jerry.
Your cousin Jerry is probably not a mouse.
Mice don’t live in hice.
Mice are small.

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Scunthorpe-born Rob Walton is a writer and performer who now lives in Whitley Bay. He writes poetry and short fiction for children and adults. His poetry for children has been published by Bennison Books, Bloomsbury, The Dirigible Balloon, The Toy Press, Frances Lincoln, Macmillan and others. The Emma Press will publish his collection of flash fictions, Please Do Not Read The Footnotes Please, in 2025.