Ode to the Cobra Lily

[Assaf1981]

They say that

You’re a snake,

Yet is that

Statement accurate?

 

Let’s evaluate:

You look graceful,

Yes, that’s true!

You stand tall,

Tall and proud!

You stretch the skin

Around your neck,

Like that of a hood,

Poised and ready,

With your bared fangs,

And darting tongue,

Ready to strike

At any foes

You deem a threat.

We see you

In bogs and streams,

Your ideal home(s),

Where predators

Pay you no mind.

 

Yet you hiss not,

 you move not!

You have not

A serpent’s skin:

Your skin is green,

Like that of a plant,

And you eat

Neither mice,

Nor bird,

Nor snake,

But tiny,

Miniscule

Organic forms

Of life flying

And hopping

This way and that!

 

Unlike most snakes,

You can stand frost,

And you dislike heat,

You grow out of the ground,

And you thrive in

Wet conditions.

 

Unlike most snakes,

you grow leaves,

that must be trimmed,

but they diminish

neither your beauty

nor your grace.

 

Unlike most snakes,

You don’t crawl

On just any

Surface; no!

You require special

Soil in which

You can thrive and live!

 

Motionless, you attract

Your prey by secreting

Sweet aromas.

When the bugs

Approach, they just

Crawl inside

Your mouth, helped

Along by your hairy

Insides dousing

Your food, making

escape difficult!

 

Nowhere for the bugs

To go now, but down;

Down into

Your digestive fluids,

Where they drown,

Then dissolve!

What a nice meal!

 

Since I cannot

Have a pet snake,

God willing,

I hope to have

You as an ideal

Companion-

A silent companion

That needs only

Water, sunlight,

Soil, and bugs!