show me that cool trick again on how to die ~ said joey to his mum
only this time she didn't reply ~ yet still obliged from a rattlers tum
By
David Kavanagh
hms
Placement perched will measure the life of them.
Air begged resistance as trace lacks its forms.
Mute heed legs of Black Widow Spider norms,
ghostly strands of rare resilience sense strum
for the secretive possessor. Kindred,
most blacks, and some browns share Rama's clocks on
their red or orange paunch that some do don.
Due to our size, strikes are rare, flee instead.
Venom: fifteen times stronger than rattlers.
Not all males are killed by their mates end of
breeding. Finding well-fed virgins, a suave
term tactic furthered being: home wreckers.
Destroy web that females put pheromones,
assures their breed a place among unknowns.
snakes on a wall
rattlers all three
no pictures or any
pretty things
just demon scalps
no
they're not evil
I ate the big one
he was old and rough
three days from pay day
half a tank
two shotgun shells
no mourning doves
and there he was
yuck
they're better young
taste like chicken
and not so tough
won't shoot 'em anymore
just shoe 'em off the porch
little bullsnake last night
on the patio under a box
picked him up before the dog
got his scent
tossed him gently
over the fence
I see 'em crossing the road
and stop to help them
wherever I roam
not to get crushed
maybe a snake is
what I was
or maybe a snake is
what I become
When summer fires can burn
a hundred miles of trees
and winter cold can lock
you into a deep freeze
What with all them rattlers
wolves and big grizzly bear
You might think it dang’rous
to ever come out here
If you're looking for air
to breathe that's crisp and clean
See clear to the bottom
of a cold running stream
Want to find where God spreads
his brush ‘cross every view
and painted a sky so
big he ran out of blue
If you're needing some room
to spread, this is the place
You’ll ride fifty miles and
not see another face
A cowboy can still ride
his hoss down the main street
and give a big howdy
to anyone he meets
People are willing to
give what help they can lend
So let me welcome you
to 'The Treasure State' friend
Cause here in Montana
you won’t meet a stranger
So there ain't no need to
worry about danger
From far and wide.
To see the
Big Island Rattlers
Verses
The Desert Snears
Alot of planning
Across sport negotiations
Stuff to say in conversation
Nothing's ever been like
This before.
From riding someone's coattails
To individual dominance
Secure the worm
and cast the rod
there really jumping tonight
Tune the band
Rent the hall
We call this one
a humdinger
Say, did you see the beautiful
Smiling face
She think she's pick that right one
You know that special one let's
Just wait and see
Bayshore special
And a Desert Delight
Time for talking
Is whining low
The hype men
Getting a taste for crow
Tell everybody
Like I know
It's getting down
Tonight!
From far and wide.
To see the
Big Island Rattlers
Verses
The Desert Snears
Alot of planning
Across sport negotiations
Stuff to say in conversation
Nothing's ever been like
This before.
From riding someone's coattails
To individual dominance
Secure the worm
and cast the rod
there really jumping tonight
Tune the band
Rent the hall
We call this one
a humdinger
Say, did you see the beautiful
Smiling face
She think she's pick that right one
You know that special one let's
Just wait and see
Bayshore special
And a Desert Delight
Time for talking
Is whining low
The hype men
Getting a taste for crow
Tell everybody
Like I know
It's getting down
Tonight!
From far and wide.
To see the
Big Island Rattlers
Verses
The Desert Snears
Alot of planning
Across sport negotiations
Stuff to say in conversation
Nothing's ever been like
This before.
From riding someone's coattails
To individual dominance
Secure the worm
and cast the rod
there really jumping tonight
Tune the band
Rent the hall
We call this one
a humdinger
Say, did you see the beautiful
Smiling face
She think she's pick that right one
You know that special one let's
Just wait and see
Bayshore special
And a Desert Delight
Time for talking
Is whining low
The hype men
Getting a taste for crow
Tell everybody
Like I know
It's getting down
Tonight!
From far and wide.
To see the
Big Island Rattlers
Verses
The Desert Snears
Alot of planning
Across sport negotiations
Stuff to say in conversation
Nothing's ever been like
This before.
From riding someone's coattails
To individual dominance
Secure the worm
and cast the rod
there really jumping tonight
Tune the band
Rent the hall
We call this one
a humdinger
Say, did you see the beautiful
Smiling face
She think she's pick that right one
You know that special one let's
Just wait and see
Bayshore special
And a Desert Delight
Time for talking
Is whining low
The hype men
Getting a taste for crow
Tell everybody
Like I know
It's getting down
Tonight!
From far and wide.
To see the
Big Island Rattlers
Verses
The Desert Snears
Alot of planning
Across sport negotiations
Stuff to say in conversation
Nothing's ever been like
This before.
From riding someone's coattails
To individual dominance
Secure the worm
and cast the rod
there really jumping tonight
Tune the band
Rent the hall
We call this one
a humdinger
Say, did you see the beautiful
Smiling face
She think she's pick that right one
You know that special one let's
Just wait and see
Bayshore special
And a Desert Delight
Time for talking
Is whining low
The hype men
Getting a taste for crow
Tell everybody
Like I know
It's getting down
Tonight!
From far and wide.
To see the
Big Island Rattlers
Verses
The Desert Snears
Alot of planning
Across sport negotiations
Stuff to say in conversation
Nothing's ever been like
This before.
From riding someone's coattails
To individual dominance
Secure the worm
and cast the rod
there really jumping tonight
Tune the band
Rent the hall
We call this one
a humdinger
Say, did you see the beautiful
Smiling face
She think she's pick that right one
You know that special one let's
Just wait and see
Bayshore special
And a Desert Delight
Time for talking
Is whining low
The hype men
Getting a taste for crow
Tell everybody
Like I know
It's getting down
Tonight!
From far and wide.
To see the
Big Island Rattlers
Verses
The Desert Snears
Alot of planning
Across sport negotiations
Stuff to say in conversation
Nothing's ever been like
This before.
From riding someone's coattails
To individual dominance
Secure the worm
and cast the rod
there really jumping tonight
Tune the band
Rent the hall
We call this one
a humdinger
Say, did you see the beautiful
Smiling face
She think she's pick that right one
You know that special one let's
Just wait and see
Bayshore special
And a Desert Delight
Time for talking
Is whining low
The hype men
Getting a taste for crow
Tell everybody
Like I know
It's getting down
Tonight!
I make a list of A words; thinking an alliterative poem would do today.
A cobra falls from the sky and lands in my hair with a big “hooray!”
A talking snake; just my unique daily kind of luck, I think.
The cobra says “Hi, my name is Lady Godiva Pink!”
Well that is all well and good, but what can I do with it?
I am making a list of A words; so I throw a fit.
I want to get on with alliteration, and I have my poem in mind.
I am tired of getting side tracked by cobras and rattlers of every kind.
Why my hair? I ask the cobra. “Why choose me?”
I got thrown by a giant in the cloud. He just tossed me away.
I am madder than hops now; as mad as a young mother can be.
I guess I will have to write the poem I had in mind on another day.
I am an enthusiastic rainbow chameleon
until I am a cumbersome ox
Wait! Hold up! Stop!
I meant I am a excited spotted lizard
mercurial and fast moving
I slide from granite rock to mica rock
slithering in wetness, shaking my rattlers
Watch out world! I am dangerous!
I find myself flying high in the azure sky
with heart and confidence of the American bald eagle
you had better not shoot me, Arkansas!
There is a ten thousand dollar fine, you know
In but minutes I fall from the peace of the clouds,
landing in refreshingly cool lake water
I swim around in here, with the joy of a golden retriever
finding some natural springs
life is an adventure, and I mean to taste it all
You cannot catch me. I’m the gingerbread man.
Warm and hot from the oven.
Sliding down the hill in a white rabbit lined parka.
I live my truth, spouting it into my art and my poems.
I remember when I found myself; I was twenty-eight.
I knew the only opinion that mattered any more was my own.
Most freeing moment of my life!
SNAKES IN RURAL PENNSYLVANIA
The snakes in his head
were timber rattlers, easily
agitated, disinclined to fight,
their rattling a warning to all
before slipping away silently from
conflict or harm
Unfortunately for the fortunate son
his bride to be was a young copperhead,
golden brown and beautiful on the
dark forest floor among the stones and
wet soil of a Blue Mountain summer,
and unlike the rattler she was silent
and aggressive, looking for a fight!
For those
who are content to scan
the surface of things
the desert can seem
quite empty and harsh;
while some others
like myself, travel
the crevasses, rest in
the shade side of a
thorny cactus – become
part of their luscious blooms
after a rare rain, or simple
cloud hiccup. More deserts
within than without, when
a heart is barren and the soul
refusing all relief –
I respect their necessary spikes,
asking of them only brief acceptance
and forgiveness...for the rattlers
and scorpions of my own
I have come to shed....
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