Chasing Snakes With Shorts On

Don´t go in the ferns is what Mum told us.
"There are adders in there,
sunning themselves in warm patches."
So that´s exactly what my brother did.

I followed, scared of getting into trouble,
terrified of being left out of things.
He crashed ahead, his brave body pushing
through the tall, lacy, wavering leaves

until I couldn´t see him anymore but
only the tremble of ferns as he forged onwards.
"Wait for me," I called out, prickling beneath
the midday sun that made little basking places

for adders and cobras and rattlesnakes,
and everywhere I turned serpents disguised
as new uncurling shoots brushing against
my bare shins, hissing a warning in the breeze.

I found my brother, stranded in a clearing.
His knees refused to bend and he was
staring at the ground in front of his feet,
at a slow worm, flicking its tongue.


© Carolyn Eddy 2006