On Tuesdays
we have Show and Tell
and Greg brings
his tree snake.
Essie is tucked in
among fig leaves
(somewhat OT) and
Greg sweet-talks her
into Show.
‘Who’s first?’ he says
and drops Essie
onto my arm.
A silence. The class
wait to see if I scream …
who would with
25 pairs of eyes on you?
Slimline Essie
is dry, even raspy,
and head lifted
she stares into my eyes.
Hers are large and round
like a doll’s. She puffs
a little and I see sky blue
between olive green
scales.
Tell: ‘She’s not venomous’,
says Greg, ‘but when unsure –
like now – she lets out
a horrible stink’.
He grins and Essie,
I discover, is
definitively unsure.
