a snake

March 2018

 

I saw the small boy sitting on the ground outside

next to the porch of the old, old house

he was playing with a twig

poking holes in the red mud under the rotten boards on the side of the porch

asudden a man stormed in and swept the boy away

apace he unsheathed a shiny machete of the Aguila Corneta brand

and swung sharply at the coral snake

as it slowly uncoiled towards the boy

out from under the old, old house

 

Jorge Mejia Hernandez