by Ruth S. Baker

“Mouse crawling out of meal forces plane to make early landing:
Rodent posed risk to electrical wiring on Scandinavian Airlines flight from Oslo to Málaga”
—The Guardian

Wiring? The story is a mere farrago;
Remember, please, how just last year a plane
Was forcibly diverted to Chicago
Because of missing food. So now again

You’ll grant, I hope, a little understanding
Of how a passenger’s frustration feels.
I forced the plane to make an early landing,
As humans do when cheated of their meals.