IMAGES
WORDS
Friendly Serpents
A dream of snakes in warm showers
may seem obvious to Freud
but knowing better my own spirit
who sees omens in living creatures
I welcome his presence as he slides
his strangely soft, cool snake-self
from my body as I release him
into the summer rain.
He returns through a window
to eat my cat, I fear
but Bobbin, changeling that she is
turns into a girl-child
who needs no protection
who stands alone, unafraid.
So the serpent curls up in a beam
of morning sun
on the dining room table
a reptilian centerpiece
with no room left for food.
Copyright (c) 1993-2012 - Elizabeth Dozier Steedly
Please do not use without permission.