A Poem by Bradley Morewood

the snake in the pool

the little wriggler signaled with sun and water
distress and will to writhe
it acquiesced to my net
then examined the chlorine web on the grass with its tongue

it was a kind of snake I’d never seen
greenish with a big head

could be the sudden death of someone in a year

I released it because it was beautiful
because it wanted to live
because its ancestors slithered here long before the first houses
and I admired its ability to stay alive
among the fences, cats and pesticides

I would want a second chance
or even a third or fourth
if the world mistook me for poisonous
if I’d made some mistakes and trapped myself
in a pool of social and financial madness



Bradley Morewood writes poetry and enjoys life in Tampa, Florida.