escapril day 26: serpentine
Snakes slither into my mind, disguised
Against the undulations of my brain,
I dream about them again and again…
There could be many things cloaked by a snakeskin –
A wobbling thought weaving through tall grass,
Or a spine shattering dread hissing
And twisting it’s way up your neck,
Or a wrist worming it’s way around your waist
With fingers walking where they aren’t welcome.
Worse still when I lift my arm to my face
Revealing a human coating peeling,
Unveiling a scaled skin.
But with a panicked clench of eyelids
Holding onto darkness or anything but this,
With a shiver, a shudder, I shake them off.
At least here it is only a dream snake, camouflaged
By my brain, and if I peel my eyelids open,
I can order them away.
Lauren Kathleen 