Poetry Exercise #13: Unsympathetic Poem

You know the rat, but this is not a rat.
He is covered in fur like the butterscotch pudding you scarf,
But don’t try to taste him.
If you do, his cut will burn you,
Like the lamp did that one night.
Do you remember the pink ribbon trailing the rat?
This rat has one too,
But it is covered in things that poke and sting like
When you stepped on Barbie’s dream car.
Unlike the rat that you know,
This rat climbs trees
Like you stack your unwanted legos—
The ones you never use.
The ugly ones you never use.