Evasion

A snake has been caught, the prison guard
holds it by the tail. Snapping him like a whip
each time the creature tries to curl and strike.
You want to see a Moses dazzling the other
sorcerers, a trick of biblical proportions.
Instead it's just a grass snake not the viper
you prayed to contain. Could this number be
shed the skins of half remembered names
claimed from the desert? At night the future
lies in dreams tongues of serpents tasting flames.

In memory of Tristan
South Florida Reception Center