"On the Eating of Mice" by Russell Edson from Word of Mouth (Reading Response)

I'm trying to figure out why these people are eating mice.  Are they poor?  Maybe they're homeless, and all they can find to eat are mice off of the streets.  Is the woman a witch?  The poem says the couple has "mouse poached in menstrual blood at the full of moon."  That sounds like some hocus-pocus stuff.  Does her husband even know that she is serving him mouse?  Maybe he thinks it's chicken, but she doesn't want to break it to him that they can't afford chicken anymore.  The man eating the mouse with "a dentist's pick and a surgeon's scalpel" makes me think that he could have gotten those random tools from the trashcan or dumpster, because most people with homes eat with a fork and spoon (or chopsticks); therefore, this helps with the idea that he and his wife are homeless.  But why would the man use a "jeweler's loupe" at all?  Why is he examining the mouse?  I'm a bit lost with this poem, but I will definitely take notes on the gruesome parts, because it is always entertaining to surprise your reader with unexpected imagery.