In
an
On the first of April
a blacksnake lies on a rafter
of the picnic pavilion
tasting the air.
Thin as a hose, she reaches up and up
then retracts into fat curls
letting her exquisite head droop
to peer down at a stocky blonde woman
who shudders and hurries away
trailed by her grinning, pigtailed man.
As they climb aboard their grumbling cycle
and head off down the curvy road
we turn back to the sinuous presence
stunned by beauty
kept there by silent whispers
skin on skin.
Mary O'Dell is president of Green River Writers, Inc., a
23-year-old non-profit organization in