Killing
a Backyard Snake
I
troughed the small snake
with murderous intent
through compost heaps, struck
again and again with a shovel
until the body severed:
the
upper half lizard brown,
the
under, pale as baby’s breath.
Even
in death the mouth sawed
open and closed. I told
myself I had biblical
sanction, yet calling a priest
did
not quickly free me.
Weeks
I dreamed of innocents,
of
snakes sliced by spades
centuries since Adam,
spilling sins of killers
who
sought their own dark wills.
Now
I pray forgiveness
and
swear by the grave
of
this fellow I stabbed
never again to splinter
or
stomp with such haste.