April 4, 2008

Where it’s Safe

we were playing in the garden

my friends and I

and saw behind the bushes

a patch of scaly skin

indistinct in the gloom

but we knew it was a snake

whether it was a small one

that we could handle

or a large one

that could handle us

we did not know

so we went to play elsewhere

where the sun shone more brightly

and safety seemed more real

never acknowledging the Gardener

knew of the snake all along