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SNAKE POETRY

Snake

 

A real charmer they said but a slippery customer;

Hypnotic eyes hiding a venomous tongue.


I should have listened


He seems laid back but he’s ready to strike at speed;

You won’t know what’s hit you, they said.


I should have listened


Don’t be fooled by his affection, he’ll suffocate you

Crushing you tightly till you can’t breathe


I should have listened


But I love him, I said, and I know he loves me

I’d follow him to the ends of the earth


I won’t listen


He’s spellbinding, charming, attentive and fervent

But slippery, repellent and poisonous too


Snake! – I should have listened.

 

 

 © Kathleen Wratten

 

Viper, Viper

 


Viper, viper, serpent hiss
From thy fangs a poisonous kiss
Created by what deity
Was thy sinous symmetry?



Viper, viper creeping thing
Royal assassin by thy sting
When Cleopatra took her life
At her breast thou wast her knife



Viper, viper, basilisk
Perseus bravely faced the risk
Writhing in Medusa's hair
Lethal darts within thy stare



Viper, viper, scourge of Eve
Wast thou meant her to deceive
Was it you or was it she
Took the fruit from off the tree?

 


Viper, viper, awesome sight
In the woodland curling tight
Gleaming scales of God's design
Such a masterpiece of thine

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Marion Chudley   

 

   Snake in the Grass

Bright beady eyes with never a blink
Muscular, lengthy and lean
Hypnotic stare, with no sign of a wink

Snake in the grass so green
Slithering down the slippery slope
Silently planning your fall
Disguising his form like the coils of a rope
Snake in the grass so tall

Watching, waiting like a fox in his lair
Poisonous fangs primed to kill
Sunk close to the ground, no sound in the air
Snake in the grass so still

Dark sparkling eye, beguiling and brown
Muscular lengthy and lean
Lips curled in a smile, no hint of a frown
Snake in the grass so green
Striding along, with a laugh and a joke
While silently planning your fall
Disguising dark thoughts in a jovial cloak

Snake in the grass so tall
A cunning deceiver, slimy evil false friend
His forked tongue ready to kill
His truth is a lie from beginning to end
Snake in the grass so still

 

 

 

© Jane Jones 2009 

 

 

 

           With school exams looming large on the horizon, this contribution from Marion  may conjure-up memories for some and a taste of things to come for others

 

                                                                      

                                                                      Preparation.

It’s really close now, only seconds away

I feel awfully sick so perhaps I won’t stay

My head is all woolly, my mind tightly shut

A whole zoo of butterflies dance in my gut

One minute ago I knew what to write

Now I think maybe I’m losing my sight

The room is a blur, I can’t think who I am

Should have spent yesterday trying to cram

The edge of the desk , hold on tightly to that

Remember the previous exam that you sat

Look at the pencils there neat in a row

“Over the top, lads, we’re ready to go”

“Now open your paper” a voice from afar

Bile in my throat tastes like black sticky tar

My stomach drops out through the seat of the chair

The rest of me’s floating somewhere over there

“You may begin” The words burn in my brain

I really can’t do this. I’m going insane

The paper floats nearer, a hand reaches out

I know the first one, I practically shout

This will be easy, no problem for me

Not being nervous I think that’s the key.

 

© Marion Chudley.