The Zippies

We've had hamsters ourselves
My sister and I
three weeks to a year
Then they die

Zippy One
Zippy Two
Zippy Three
Zippy Four

All of them went zipping out the door

After a while, we stopped calling them hamsters...
"Shall we get another Zippy?"
Can't say whose fault it was
The short life span of some of them
As it was a shared responsibility

It wasn't all our fault.
They would get out and eat the insulation under the stairs
Pink and invisibly prickly
It would eventually mutilate their insides
Usually found after three days
Follow the stink
In a nest of Christmas tree ornaments
A procession to the toilet
and a flush
We weren't sentimental
Until I got a guinea pig
I guess it's the size.
More substantial
and something
you can hold in your lap
We had good times.