Snake Poem by Mary Champion

It glides over the ground,
forked tongue tasting the air,
Serpent or Satan?
It moves without sound.

Winding around the rocks,
slithering through the grass,
closing on its prey.
Fear strikes as it stops!

Now you can see it, but
has it sensed you are there?
You're longing to flee -
feel terror - disgust.

Would you could read its thought,
or interpret its gaze.
Are you in its sights?
Are you what it sought? ,

Your heart starts to race now,
feel the prickle of sweat,
but keep statue still,
control it somehow.

Frozen- heart in your throat -
see it snaking away,
and on through the grass.
Death sentence revoked.
 
Your fingers uncrossed,
as your muscles melt down.
You weren't to its taste,
but whose life was lost?