Serpent
Cool, soft, ever and all shade.Gently coils caress my carcass.And I lie in my bed at rest.All is well at the bottom of the world in my wellNo need for dreams down here where I dwell.Until the...Eye!Bursting open, with blinding light and piercing rays in its gaze.And the...Voice!Booming from above.The bellow muffled and refracted this far below, now just noise.It’s weight pushing me away.I wind my way upwards.Through a new fluid.That fills me.So I float to some surface.Eye!Fixes its gaze on me, while the wet thing fumbles to lift me up to look at.Until the water around me hardens, become ground to grip and thrust me up into view.While around me, the verdant wave of blades radiates outwards bursting from under the earth.Lesser imitations ofEye!Flock to fill the sky, fighting for supremacy,Until one has won and sends its nemesis to hide on the underside of the earth.I slither back to the edge of the earthAnd diveOnly to find my depths disturbed,Full of countless small thingsThat bite at me and do not think to fear my jawsI force myself back to the dry dirtOnly to see it infested as wellI try to lie and rest againBut find myself unsettled.Restless writhing.Until one comes to soothe meSmall with smooth handsAnd a sweet song.The small ones, spoke but not likeVoice!Not with bludgeon confidenceSo unsureSo I replyTell of the power they could haveTell of whatVoice!Will not say.Then there’sVoice!Back and wreathed in wrathNot wanting to share the secrets I said Rather would share its blades and flameI writhe, break free, find the sea againAnd dive, deep, deep as I can go, back below the beastsI return to theCool, soft, ever and all shade.But I remember the surfaceA story written on me in woundsLimbless I languishCan’t scratchUncontentUntilSome small ones,Ones I saw once beforeFollow me down, through thousands of fathomsForsaking the surfaceTo soothe meMy thanks.