SLEPT WITH A SNAKE
A snake under my covers
ate and didn’t clean—
crumbs left for me to find
one bright cold saturday—
I find her sheddings scattered
tucked inside the sheets—
sheets that are quite yellowed
from hazy grainy dreams—
she used her tongue to find me
hissing as she rose—
and when the sun fell downward
she snapped me with her jaws—
I cannot shake the feeling
of scales swift up my spine—
and soon the world is melting
in whirring wintertime—
the snow is finally coming
she cannot bask again—
no beaming sun to warm her
no bed to hold her in—
–Molly Bond