Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Little Green Snake

Little Green Snake
Sunning yourself
Along the sandy
Forest trail,
Drunk with sunshine,
Hot, warm, happy.

I see
Little Green Snake,
Bright Colors,
Small head,
Long Green Body,
And flickering tongue.

And cannot resist:
A touch.

Little Green Snake
How soft your tail is!
And your tongue flickers
Tasting me
In the breeze.

Little Green Snake,
Colis, S-Like
At my touch;
And away I pull
My curious hands.

And Little Green Snake,
Calms down,
Body long again,
Tongue out,
Smelling the world.

And yet,
Little Green Snake
Looks so little,
Cute,
Snake-like,
To my Human Eyes.
A second touch?

Resist, I cannot.

I lean over
To pet
Little Green Snake.

Little Green Snake
Is Not happy.

Little Green Snake
Coils together,
And upwards he springs.

And I jump!
And I scream.
And I dance my feet,
In the white-sandy path,
Away from Little Green Snake's jaws,
Nipping at my heels.

And I decide
NOT
To touch Little Green Snake
Anymore.

Good bye Little Green Snake.
Sorry for making
You Mad.
But thanks for
Making ME realize,
I can now
Jump.

Quickly!


True story, accurate account of my trail walk through the woods of UWF today. I thought that the recent cold snap was enough to keep the snakes - and perhaps alligators? - at bay for a little while.

But I was oh-so-wrong.

Moral of the story: Don't pull a Jeff Corwin and try to pet wild animals. At least my reaction time is fast! AND, I can laugh at myself. After the fact.

And what do you know? I can jump pretty good too. That snake was fast! But it was a harmless garden snake, bright green, with no poison sacks. Believe me - I have no interest in petting a poisonous snake. I draw the line somewhere!

So, next time you're walking through the woods, make sure you have a great reaction time to sudden movements. Or better yet, don't pet strange snakes!

7 comments:

Ryan said...

Aww, look!

This is the most deadly creature in nature.

One little bite and my whole body will convulse with spasms until my brain dies from oxygen starvation because the poison has denatured the hemoglobin in my red blood cells.

Let me pick this little cutie up and have a look!

Ow, OH NO!

I've been bitten.

What, it doesn't like to be touched.

Somebody should have told me this.

Too Funny Marit!!!!!

Welcome back to Jumping!!!!!!!!!!

Steve Stenzel said...

HA!! Great poem!

Sarah said...

That was hilarious.

You're brave. I don't touch snakes. ;)

Kellye Mills said...

Ok... the mother in me was reading this and thinking, Oh... PLEASE don't touch it!! As my Dad would say, "An accident waiting to happen!" :)

PLEASE be careful Marit!!

Marit C-L said...

Okay okay! :)

I promise: NO MORE TOUCHING SNAKES! But that's kinda, sorta just how I am. I think nature is pretty neat, I love animals - and I like exploring my surroundings. I know how to classify snakes and what to avoid...

I was just being a silly little kid, in some sort of way. So YES, I am careful :) - I promise.

And now that I know the snakes - big and smaill - I'll avoid some of the smaller trails. Ahem.

And I won't touch any more snakes - even if they're little, small, green, harmless and cute.

Kellye this is for you! :)

Ashley said...

MARIT!!! Yo sista, stay away from the snakes. So glad you can jump.

Eileen Swanson said...

Yikes!! Scary snakes. HA!

I love your weekly pic. So cute ;-)

E