Snake Skin Poem by Douglas Scotney

For its long, thin, twisted pods,
the radermachera sinica
gets its common name, the serpent tree.
To me it's the vipers' nest.

Weeks-ago by lorikeets deseeded*,
the dried husks float to the ground,
or make a pest of themselves,
clogging the downpipe of the gutter
of the roof of the shed...

clogging, which is compounded by
fallen leaves from three white cedars beside.
For their myriad, golden, marble-sized fruits,
also called bead trees,

to me, at drop-times,
a cruder name suits.

* de-see-ded