Hi Glenn, hi Matt, hi Jim -- many thanks for your generous takes on this.
I'm glad the rats grew on you, Glenn. The 1984 reference is a fortuitous one. I can't recall when I first drafted this poem, but I re-read 1984 fairly recently -- so there's every chance it was somewhere in my mind during its conception. Poor Winston. Poor Rat!
Matt, I'm really glad this worked for you. Your reading matches my intentions, as far as I can judge, pretty completely, which is very heartening. In these recent drafts I've tried to strengthen the nod to the Pied Piper tale (subtly). Is that coming over as a helpful lens?
Jim -- many thanks for the warm welcome and for dropping by! I'm very glad you seemed to enjoy the poem, even though things remained a little mysterious for you. 'the one led away' was intended to be read as 'the one who/that was led away'.
Thanks again, all of you.
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