A/N: Well, this is a poem of the bubonic plague that swept through Europe in the Middle Ages and killed a sixth of the population (or something like that...I haven't studied European History since sixth grade, all right?). Oh, and if you're wondering, "the Mistress" is a reference to someone, though I doubt anyone will get it. It's kinda...offbeat. And no, it's not Japanese either. Though if you're hell-bent on knowing the reference, it has to do with "the Mistress" and rats. Oh, and the only time is 4 o'clock. Anyway, read and review please!

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The rats are gathering, talking in hushed whispers,

Readying themselves for their Mistress's arrival.

And when she comes, Death she brings with her;

Boils and fevers and fear ignite the streets

Do you feel it?

It's at your door.

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The ravens are coming, cawing proudly.

Soon they will feast on man's flesh,

As their widows and children weep over the bodies.

And those who worship the Mistress

Consider those casualties as necessary.

Do you hear it?

Your neighbor's breathing his last.

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The cats are watching, great green eyes following you.

Thrown out of their homes as harbingers of calamity,

They now slink through the gutters and shadows,

Waiting for their revenge.

And here it comes, riding on rodent's backs.

Do you see it?

It just took your child's life.

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The humans are dying, and what a horrible stench!

The governor's shaking in his mountain villa,

A few miles away from the people he governs.

And as humans are slaughtered, the taxes go up,

And priests chant their death-hymns.

Do you smell it?

Your skin is rotting.

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Rats, ravens and cats; all are content;

And to the afterlife men's souls are sent.

Don't bother preparing, my dear,

The Mistress is here.