Tom Sheehan
SNAKE ON WOODPILE, AFTER MALONEY, OPA
Atop the woodpile,
wrapped in sunlight
of afternoon sleep,
he’s a lariat
coiled for mousing.
The sun has looped him
on oaken statements
left over from my maul,
sure hands, swift arcs
on summer Saturdays.
His concentric scroll,
interwoven and designed
as less than deadly
in ultimate disguise,
speaks palpably of tongues,
Maxillas, sudden
constrictions his whole length.
Now he is something else,
bedroomed in the air,
soaking up alpha rays
in his time of times
on what was growing rings.
Too soon he will jaw
a mouse. Then his turn turns,
artist in wait.
Date of Birth: 3/5/28 Location: Saugus, Massachusettes Email: tomsheehan@mediaone.net Website: http://people.ne.mediaone.net/tomsheehan/default.htm Publications: Eastoftheweb, 3amMagazine, Electric Acorn, New Works Review, Aileron, Kota Review, Eclectica, Paumanok Review, Comrades, Cutbank, Tar River, Fan, Stirring V3:E7, etc. Books: The Saugus Book, Ah, Devon Unbowed, and Reflections from Vinegar Hill. Other: Co-editor "A Gathering of Memories, Saugus 1900-2000"
