by Pavel Chichikov
I saw a blacksnake coiled inside a hollow tree
Head and tail, but something from the middle
Extruding from the hole, the serpent's center part
Inflated with the bolus of its prey invisible
Raccoon kit or squirrel, possum whelp
A coil of scale and muscle, sprung vertebrae
Loop of hard intestine, rupture of the world abdominal
Digesting, breathing in and out
Contraction peristaltic of the living
Eating up the almost dead
Even mindless animals fear this engulfing,
Death inevitable, natural and pitiless –
Where is compassion, even cognizance
Inside a brainless dissolution?
A snake's head in the dark of death found Him
A serpent fed ungiving coils around Him
Refused to let His ribs expand to breathe
For on the cross all die of suffocation –
All signs of death at last refer to this:
Life held in, the cross a hollow tree
Now there is a tree that is no citadel
And there appears the hunter of the dead
Slim enough to find and eat his fill –
Be brave, as you will perish so did I
I show you life by showing how to die
Visit Pavel's website at Grey Owl Press.
