Havahart by Michael Estabrook

Didn’t have time to be depressed over
the pandemic today
everything canceled and closed
for who knows how long
the specter of death buzzing around our heads.
We kept busy fiddling with
Havahart traps and rodent repellent
because we spotted the chipmunk
that was living in the walls resting calmly
in the entrance to his hole
in our condo siding.
I plugged the hole with steel wool and wood putty
baited three traps with peanut butter
went shopping for paint
lifted weights, got a haircut . . .
staying busy and distracted is obviously the key
to weathering this storm of fear and uncertainty.



Michael Estabrook has been publishing his poetry in the small press since the 1980s. Hopefully with each passing decade the poems have become more clear and concise, succinct and precise, more appealing and “universal.” He has published over 20 collections, a recent one being The Poet’s Curse, A Miscellany (The Poetry Box, 2019).