Snake in the Road

it started with a garter snake
flattened in the street
the harmless little garden kind
whilst squished, was rather neat

“they’re the good ones” people quip
“they couldn’t ever hurt”
like the big fat slithery black ones
down there in the dirt

let them go their merry way
it’s the herpetological code
but to some it’s open season on the highway
when they’re stretched across the road

in Appalachia
copperheads make you think twice
the poison ones come at ‘ya and
the timber rattlers ain’t half as nice

but out in Arizona
the snakes have all turned pro
so you better watch out, out there
if that’s where yer plannin’ to go

see there’s twenty kinds of diamondbacks
they stare out of those rocky cracks
and that lightning fast Mojave kind
say your prayers if one attacks

sonoran racers and whip snakes
are colorful and mellow
but a coral snake bite is all it takes
‘cause “red and yellow kills a fellow”

it’s a queasy kind of feeling though
for even a ranch-worn drover
who sees a diamondback with tire tracks
when his pickup runs one over

there ain’t no moral to the tale
when it comes to deadly snakes
avoid ’em on the trail fer sure
but on the road avoid the brakes

© Copyright 2014 Brooks Bradbury / BROOKS LOOKS