a rattler come sliding through the grass
slow as digestion.
I stamped the dirt—
but you know effort in a dream is
like kicking cotton— it kept coming
then coiled around my feet,
up inside my leg, scales rippled
inside my ribs, its slack spine became mine
and swallowed my heart
in its unlocked jaws,
ran its tongue like a
sickle across my teeth.
Then, in the cool of the eve,
I felt in my coils the
stamping of feet, heavy in my chest.
At the bootheel, I rattled ancient curses
my tongue had never known.
How will the snake’s head be crushed
which is buried in my skull?
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
Wow, Seth!
Stunning poem. A riff on Genesis 3:15 for one thing.
(Do you mean to say, “A rattler CAME (instead of “come”)?
We imagine cursing the snake, but he has taken possession of our feet (actions), our tongue (speech), our heart, (source of will) and our head/mind.
We curse the Serpent, but he has taken possession of our person.
Who will crush/destroy the Serpent?
Thus, to crush the “head” of the serpent means crushing/ destroying evil in my mind, (heart, feet and tongue), renewing it in the likeness of the resurrected Lord, Jesus.
Such a shocking close to your verse. Provocative. Suggestive.
Congratulations. Open to many interpretations as good verse is meant to do.
Thanks for reading, John, and reading so thoroughly. The “come” is meant to be a vernacular usage or an idiosyncrasy of dialect. I read not long ago that there is no sacred language, but that the Gospel is only heard in dialect, and I thought that was a pretty good way of saying it.
A fascinating mythopoetic dream!