…
In an abandoned web the baby twined
with its tail held fast in the twisted strands
which I gently tugged at with careful hands
not wanting to break the delicate spine
of one so young. When I went in the house
my father said, “Your cat is killing snakes
in the cellar.” I went straight down to shake
that cat and say, “A snake is not a mouse.”
It doesn’t help though. One was real little
like the one I’d just saved and crawled away
but the other one’s beautiful length lay
severed in three. I was glad it was still—
But oh! the upper part opened its jaws
and coiled into a howl that wouldn’t close.
Drawings by Akram
