In a little family group they stood <br />Aggrieved on the petshop floor. <br />“It bit me and me mam and our Gladys, <br />And ‘im, that boy by the door”. <br /> <br />The ferret dangled like a dishcloth, <br />Totally in disgrace <br />And listened appalled as its sins and shortcomings <br />Were paraded in front of its face. <br /> <br />The petshop assistant was doubtful, and said <br />They’d had it as a kitten, <br />And neither customer or staff <br />Had it ever bitten. <br /> <br />But when she’d seen the scars and scratches <br />On Gladys’s hands and face <br />She said they might have another ferret <br />To take the miscreant’s place. <br /> <br />“No thanks, no way”, they said, as one, <br />“We’ll have a different pet, <br />Something soft, preferably toothless, <br />Anything but a ferret”! <br /> <br />They humm’d and haw’d and messed about <br />With many a poke and dig <br />And finally chose in exchange for their ferret <br />A gormless guinea pig.<br /><br />Pete Crowther<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/exchange-of-an-unsuitable-pet/
