I Saw a Snake Today

I saw a snake on the patio wall

It too saw me standing by

I was filling the cistern with a pale

Because our well’s gone dry.

It feared my presence and turned to flee

Not merely slinking as snakes will do

But leaping airborne to a hidden place

Where only snakes pass through.

Then crossing the courtyard to the barn

Another snake was at the door

It saw me coming to enter in

And scurried beneath the floor.

What creatures lurk beneath my feet

And me above their place

I cannot doubt their right to be

We must all share this wondrous space.

I’ll leave the rocks and soil for them

Disturbing the least I can

To safeguard well their earthen homes

From the carelessness of Man.

But let them stay well hidden there

For though I want them on this earth

It excludes settling my dwelling’s walls

Or resting upon my hearth.