Snapping Turtle swims
through green Mississippi slew
and raids my stringer.
The Cord decided—Suddenly—
The Sky withdrew its Sound—
A sharp Arithmetic of Air
Was finished—then unbound—
The Body paused—to take a step
The Soul declined the Floor—
A click—no louder than a Thought—
Undid the World below—
The Neck—forgot its errand—
The Blood mislaid its Rule—
Gravity—remembered me—
And rang the Bell--quite True—
Not Pain—so much as Interval—
Between the Now—and Then—
A Silence—fastened round the Throat—
Where Breath had always been—
And I—was lifted from the Weight--
Of Flesh’s brief Command—
As if my Name—had slipped its Thread
From God’s own careful Hand—
Snapping turtle
The biggest turtle in the world
was gigantic mass of being
in Galapagos they said
all this flesh and shield
was I50 years old
To think once she had been charming
helped her to find the sea
saving her from greedy birds
Lucky was the man sitting on top
of her making funny faces
she was not a snapping turtle
air rockets skyward
uppercutting inside
plastic neon flesh
contorting at inhuman angles
what does my body language spell?
ankles anchored into the Earth
to stay grounded as the wave
of time and space crashes
a flood of stagnant flux
there is a symphony of bones
snapping and cracking
in twisted orchestrations
the act of existing for me
is a resilient demonstration
Snapping Turtle
Brawny and mean,
The reptile is seen
Oozing out of the mire
Like a prehistoric monster.
The snapper stares
While smelling the air,
Keenly attentive
For lurking predators.
A thick-muscled neck
Poised to stretch
With beak agape that says,
“Keep your distance!”
Because it cannot retract
Its head far enough back
To protect it from enemies
And so it snaps at everything.
The turtle claws at the dirt in front,
Pulling itself to where it’s going,
Dragging its spiked tail along
The ground in slow motion.
Here she is
Her smile as if painted on
Shining, eye catching
Her shell cracking
Breaking, snapping
Slowly revealing the true little clown
Oh, my silly little fool
No amount of pain or porcelain could hide something as hideous as you
Oh, now don’t weep
Don’t fret
After all, the show isn’t over yet.
All summer we would sit and work,
from sunup ‘til about sundown.
We must have laughed a million laughs,
and must have snapped a million pounds.
We would whistle or sing along,
to near a million melodies.
I did not know it, but we were,
making a million memories.
My brothers and sisters always,
thought it was such an awful chore.
Just sitting in our rocking chairs,
watching as time flew past the door.
Through the good times and the bad times
I knew that one thing would not change.
You’d always find us on the porch,
Laughing hard and snapping them beans.
As the years began to pass us,
Gramma’s eyesight was nearly gone.
Her hands and fingers were too frail,
for her to try to carry on.
The morning that my Gramma died,
it was the day that my heart broke.
Since then I’ve tried to live by those
simple words that my Gramma spoke.
Don’t worry about tomorrow,
it won’t get here until it comes.
So live each day the best you can,
do not regret a single one.
Better grab the bull by the horns,
when you’re following your own dreams.
Spend some time with the ones you love,
on the front porch snapping them beans.
In a stream of murky waters deep,
Where secrets and shadows forever creep,
Lives a creature fierce and ancient, bold,
A guardian of tales as yet untold.
Behold the snapping turtle, wise and strong,
Her ancient shell echoing a timeless song.
With eyes like amber, full of mystic gleam,
She reigns over a realm of forgotten dream.
A warrior clad in armor of darkest hue,
Her jaws await, a formidable view.
But beneath her tough exterior, you'll find,
A heart of grace, gentle and kind.
She navigates the currents with graceful ease,
A creature of wisdom, silent as the breeze.
In tranquil shallows or depths unknown,
She finds solace, her kingdom, her own.
Through the ebb and flow of passing time,
Her presence endures, a sacred rhyme.
She teaches us patience, resilience, and might,
As she journeys through day and night.
So let us honor this creature so rare,
With a whispered homage, a quiet prayer.
For in her presence, we find strength anew,
Her snapping spirit, forever true.
snarling growling snapping
staring glaring daring
old challenges the young
dogs people cows or cats
but wait.... have any of us ever seen an old cow?
the snapping turtle
wandering around asphalt
confuses my dog
they gather
grounded
in prayers
like leaves
beneath
trees
i stand
hollow
naked
numb
in this air
awaiting
winded gusts
in disgusted
sighs
to snap me
as i tumble
down around them
from life
my desires
hang golden
like autumn’s leaves
dancing
on the edge
of dreams
snap of reality
sends them crashing
back down
grounded
until
the next
winded thought
sends them adrift
again
Youth's stream of dancing diamonds
a sparkling frolic without ending
a burst of naïve beauty before the fall
at the brink-the pinnacle of big dreams
youth crashes into the cold rocks below
diamonds suffocate in the dirty foam
In a flash, youth is snapping turtle old.
S n A p P I n G p H o T o S
GRANDMA’S TV
wall space empty
except for dead relatives
tv antenna flashes
bunny ears
upheaval of chests
Eyes stare
~
GRANDMA’S ROOSTER
crimson chair
360 degree spin
past and present mix
of snapshots
ceramic roosters
warm hands
~
ERASING THE PAST
Bandaid’s ripped off
Headshot lost to divorce
No comparisons left
Couple school photos
Magnetized on fridge
Kim Rodrigues © 2017
Did mind so snap
Over Satan's rap?
I could've been in or out
In high school could scream and shout!
Oh my gosh I'm singed with pain
Constant mark upon my brain
But you can't just give up dreams
No matter how cracked the mirror seems!
Want to give in to being a fool?
Please don't let the devil rule!
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.