To the Snake


Green Snake, when I hung you round my neck
And stroked your cold, pulsing throat
As you hissed to me, glinting
Arrowy gold scales, and I felt
The weight of you on my shoulders,
And the whispering silver of your dryness
Sounded close at my ears

Green Snake I swore to my companions that certainly
You were harmless! But truly
I had no certainty, and no hope, only desiring
To hold you, for that joy,
Which left
A long wake of pleasure, as the leaves moved
And you faded into the pattern
Of grass and shadows, and I returned
Smiling and haunted, to a dark morning.


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To the Snake