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)