snakebite

with my head down
on a desk,
the snake came
and delivered.

the size of
a subway train,
jointless lithe
and weird.

I didn't see it
until it was
upon me, its spikes
in my brain
stem, changing
how I think,
down to the
most basic
instincts, even
my acceptance
of distance,
my heart's one
rhythm.

no super powerd hero's
story, this; only
exegesis, no savior,
just a loss pure and tailored.

the sudden failure
of a mirror, a fading place,
I and I was there,
still innocent, but darkly different.

he must have
been full; I wonder
at the great meal
he must have
swallowed, and how
I could encroach upon
the territory of
the great snake;
a being head down,
motionless,
the last few breaths
of human blood,
mixing in my chest.