Lucy and the Snake - a poem

Lucy And The Snake 

by Susan Paczek

 

There was a girl named Lucy 

She had never seen a snake 

So she pitied one who said he

Found that friends were hard to make

“I don’t know why no one likes me” 

He sniffed, lying there in a coil 

Lucy said “People can be silly” 

As she lifted him from the soil 

She draped him over her shoulders 

Though she was wearing a boa 

People greeted them with cold stares 

And whispered “Look! A snake, ooh ah!”

Her friends said “What are you doing!?” 

“Snakes are bad news, you'll get bitten”
She said “But I find his rattle soothing.
Just look in his eyes, you'll be smitten”

Lucy and the snake hung out a lot 

Til one day on a café’s deck 

The snake was startled by a gunshot 

And pumped venom into Lucy’s neck

The snake looked on coldly as Lucy went gray 
Thinking, "I am what I am, I cannot help it" 
And said to the crowd as he slithered away 
 “If you play with snakes expect to get bit”