A snake sought out my concrete floor on a warm, warm evening
\nAnd I in bare feet for the heat –
\nMellifluously easing its smoothness under the door
\nInto the room I had presumed was mine
\nIn order to put me right?<\/p>\n
When my eyes told my mind what they saw at my feet
\nI must have drawn breath
\nfor it stopped
\nAnd considered with penetrating emeralds
\nWhat it saw before it.<\/p>\n
Having given myself away
\nI realised I was no longer part of the furniture
\nBut uncomfortably distinct.<\/p>\n
– Still! Be still! Don’t Move Stay Still
\nMy thoughts hissed at me
\n– Even should it wind itself around your thigh<\/p>\n
The glint of the remorseless eyes
\nSeemed to stop the world turning
\nBefore the eternities that lay behind them<\/p>\n
Then
\nLeaping clumsily like a human being,
\nIgnoring all time-honoured wisdoms,
\nI took a chair up with me
\nAnd landed back with a crash
\nBefore its stillness.<\/p>\n
Stiffening with each ensuing chair-crash
\nThe creature magically pulled itself backwards
\nBetraying no fear, no widening at the eye –
\nIt seemed, rather, to have taken
\nA pragmatic decision on its
\nDry appraisal.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it didn’t wish to be with what it appraised.
\nIt slipped back indifferent garden-wards
\nAnd left me with sweaty palms
\nAnd something to expiate.<\/p>\n
Dominic Mathews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A snake sought out my concrete floor on a warm, warm evening And I in bare feet for the heat – Mellifluously easing its smoothness under the door Into the room I had presumed was mine In order to put me right? When my eyes told my mind what they saw at my feet I … Continue reading A Snake Sought Out My Concrete Floor<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=222"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions\/239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}