Men Amongst Snakes

The still black water
Electrified in full moon
Midnight
Reveals ivory clutches
Of the dead’s last reach
Hollowed souls
Filled with red holes
Unblinking eyes
While serpents swim
Below

Here he sits
Back to the world
A banjo plucked
Over competing symphonies
Of crickets and flies
Bathed in death's perfume
And at home in air
Thick enough to choke
Lesser devils

His toothless grin
Moonshine jug and
Saggy old hounds
All anyone needs to know
Of a life
Beyond the dream