| the Great Snake must have made a slow glide down the river last night 'cause this morning the ice is gone river cleft wide for gawking commuters as if people never before saw the river flow just like that the mean ass beast passes us by in our sleep delivering its tender minstrations to the waters it's a humming thing of copper and all intent stirring the water liquid breath held in |
against itself until scales breach the horizontal wall then the bound and gagged currents are sprung from doing short time from Snake's horns fly blue electric shocks blowing out life stored in air pockets muddy nests shallow cells listless and obedient the tiny beings float under sunlight's drug become maybe a meal maybe a thing that flies in the serpent's wake spirits yawn stretch out chilly kink and cricks blink murkey eyes at the coming dawn |
offerings of tobacco or cloth or lard or berries they'll satisfy themselves on what they can pinch while we sleep winter comfort sleep dense mud-green eyes spy the weakness of our brittle structures Snake knows better than a city engineer the skin the bones the blood under our foundations and when we awake to spring we shake off the dreams we need to remember follow other rules while natural law goes on we interpret our waking lives |
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