Snake Song

---

          smell the earth

          with a flick of tongue

                    creep along

                    stomach full of fur & teeth

                                               scales begin to rip

                                               & blood drains itself

                                                on the talons of an eagle

                                                              he moves you

                                                              toward that familiar beak

                                                                              pisi¹ breath

                                                                             & blank black orifice

                                                                                            jutting from his white feathered

                                                                                            face

                                                                                            you land on the cactus

                                                                                            red petals blushing out of the

                                                                                            space of struggle

                                                                                                            pisi mi?aru²

                                                                                                            writhe

                                                                                                            spit venom

                                                                                                            curve your body back

                                                                                                            toward musty white

                                                                                                            feathers

                                                                                                             & strike

he forces a guttural tongue

inside your back

gurgles a reply

        after sensations fade

        bloody scales drop over

        your deadened eyes

               it’s happened before

                          will happen again

                           [everyday a re-enactment

                          of the creation story]

                                          & each time

                                          you will forget

                                                         awaken in the Sonoran desert

                                                         each day to give birth

                                                                              to pass egg after slimy egg

                                                                               from body to dank earth

                                                                                                & later find part of yourself

                                                                                               encased in an eagle’s entrails

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