the snake

a poem about a camping trip when I was kid true story

I remember
the summer of 1977
camping with my family
It was a sweltering
hot morning
playing on the radio was
Saturday in the park
I loved spinning and
wearing my favorite boots
they were more than boots
they were my best friends
and we went
on the greatest adventures
we were flying and
playing wonder Woman
in a field of yellow dry straw
when I noticed something
slithering too close
I was still
like a statue in the park
closer and closer
I could not breathe
up and over my boots
was a black and white snake
as enormous as a dinosaur
I thought it would be ugly
Like my mom when she
Wakes up in the morning
Without make-up
but to my surprise
it was beautiful
I ran to tell my parents
but they laughed and
didn’t believe what
I was saying
they thought it was
my fabulous imagination
later in the day
my mom screamed
and there it was
heading straight to mom
my dad picked up his gun
aimed pulled the trigger
and boom
the snake flew up in the
air in slow motion
and dropped with a hole
and it was dead
my dad yelled
that’s a baby
rattle snake