the snake

the snake

barking dogs and children,

lamplights in a fog,

come each day at sundown,

the glass is filled with grog.

put the children in their beds,

sit by the lantern light,

talk of life and all its pain

deep into the night.

you think of things you’ve never done,

you think of that that’s passed,

you think of how it might have been,

until there is the last,

last is always never first,

last is clever and cold,

last pours forth the scent of light

from unforgotten mold,

mold of life, indeed, itself,

mold that will never break,

mold the alchemists sought for

is hidden with the snake,

snake is laughing silently,

snake will never tell,

all it knows and ever was,

like the ringing of a bell

bell the angels rang at first,

bell that shall not break,

bell that mother earth does hold

inside her with the snake.

vcp