Snake

Another poem from the archives. This has always been one of my favorites.


Lying low, amidst the grass, beneath the apple tree,
A great green beast with yellow eyes, is waiting there for me.
I grab its tail and give a yank—oh, what a big mistake!

A snake! A snake! —Oh what am I to do?

He’ll bind me up and strangle me, and then he’ll come for you.
You’ll grab a rake and beat that snake, and only then you’ll see,
That garden hose just lying there as green as it can be.

(Copyright, 1986)

I Dreamed a Dream

As a child I had recurring nightmares about my brother getting squished by dinosaurs when we got stuck in the Land of the Lost. (For those of you who weren't even conceived then, this was a TV show in the mid 70's). Though I haven't had any really scary dreams for some time now, I do have my share.

Several months ago I had a dream in which I was trying to escape from a bunch of alligators in my parents' basement. In a futile attempt to escape, I jumped from the counter to the top bunkbed. While in the air, I looked down to see the biggest of the alligators snap at me. At that exact moment, my wife rolled over in bed and kicked me. Then she screamed and went back to sleep. I almost needed new sheets.

What's the weirdest dream you've had?