Interpretive Dance

There are scratching, thumping sounds
Coming from the cardboard box.
Their source is invisible.

How much interpretation
Depends on prior knowledge,
On trust in prior knowledge.

If you assume the beast’s yours
And climbed in the box to play,
Then it isn’t frightening.

You assume your pets are gone
Or locked upstairs. Now that noise
In the box is terrible.

What is that, some kind of rat?
Did a squirrel get in the house?
And then the box tips over

And you can still hear the scratching,
But there’s nothing in the box.