image borrowed from bing
Snake Eater
Prickly sweat cascading
beneath his kevlar,
willing his hands not to tremble,
thick black smudges
beneath his piercing eyes,
copper-tasting saliva sifting
through his clenched teeth,
preparing to lurch
from blackout shadow
to bright jungle clearing,
his two sharp knives trained
to skewer, to sever membranes,
to behead his scaly adversaries--
and as he leaped out
to do the cobra dance,
he marveled at how the trees
looked like mad asparagus
just before he waded
into the ritual slaughter.
Glenn Buttkus
April 2012
Posted over on Monday Melting 14
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10 comments:
I am so crazy about this poem, Glenn!!! You are a madman, and I dig it. :)
"his two sharp knives trained
to skewer" ... Perfect.
Love that cobra dance.
"Mad asparagus" is the phrase of the day, though.
rosemarymint.wordpress.com
Oh, well done! I'm digging the "mad asparagus," too.
WOW!! I'm impressed, you really meshed these words in perfectly what a vivid scene you've created! Enjoyed!
This was awesome your imagination to turn these words into this story, demands a bravo.
http://leah-jamielynn.typepad.com/blog/2012/04/its-true.html
ha. i know snake...smiles...i like...the only part that got me a bit...well tickled...was him jumping out to do the cobra dance...i got this picture in my head of Adam West's Bat Dance as batman that just would not go away...campy i know...
I'm glad you linked this one; it's so good. You don't seem to be writing quite as much lately. Everything okay? I always love your work.
rosemarymint.wordpress.com
Just busy, Rosemary; but I still manage to write 3-5 poems per week; quit a lot for an old poet.
Wow, Glenn. Strong imagery in this one.
I like the thought of "mad asparagus"; the word list conjured snakes for me too. Great piece.
Another wonderful job with the prompt. I, too, loved the way you used asparagus, as well as your excellent description of this world.
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