Friday, July 12, 2019


Snake

a loop of cold lightening
hangs from the lowest branch
as she looks up into the dark
coiling and uncoiling
she lifts her airless body skyward

at the top
a mother bird scatters
chirps anxiously from a nearby tree
chirps chirps chirps
into the silence

at first I thought to stop this story
from going forward
snake unhinging her jaws
to consume an egg
or a chick

I would get a stick
lift the snake away from the nest
restore my version of order
kindness

what of the snake and her children
she is doing what she does
to survive
find the pulsing life

dragonflies
baby birds
frogs

who decides who lives
who dies
what is the right answer
is there a right answer

do you love the snake too?

2 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

Beautiful, Beth and such an eternal question. Why are the snake and the rat reviled while the birds are adored?
I don't know.
I think that sometimes we just need to let nature take its course. Its ways are not necessarily ours but our ways are not always wise.

Elizabeth said...

I do not love snakes. But I did love reading that.