Dismantling The Serpent

A snake stopped me in my tracks today

I was frozen on the path today.

I turned to go the other way, but I swear, the creature had something to say.

Then she yawned. That old snake yawned,

Like it had been journeying since dawn.

She looked at me with burning eyes as if to tell me to move on.

Not a threat like I'd been told,

Not a wicked thing to behold.

She was simply tired, just like me, for the day was growing old.

“Her eyes,” I thought, “they’re just like mine,”

Only fiery because of the daylight.

But try as though she might, we met hers with fright.

Tales told tall in allegory,

Without asking her her story,

All for glory, though man himself grew poorly.

I saw the asp

Right through her mask,

A stand still on the path, pressured by her wrath.

She knew her place and I knew mine.

It didn’t matter if either of us were kind.

It was time.

She played her part,

That old snake was smart.

I marveled at her art as we turned apart.

Her eyes are still only fiery because of the daylight.