To the Serpent

-- 

To the serpent we are the scales

undulating along divine waters 

we sail as one 

the body attached to the head  

filled with financial blotters 

a little existential dread 

and projections and plans 

following the current of money 

and a******s  

who demand the mind  

but who shift with the wind 

of NASDAQ averages  

DOW dips 

and trendy tides 

and Quetzalcoatl

that sly b*****d who coaxes us in from behind 

with whispers of bonuses  

futile gestures 

such as meat to replace our cereal dinners 

something nice for the wife 

drugs to make her thinner 

education for the children  

or AI on their phones... 

maybe a DNA printer? 

hell AI in everything it makes stronger scales 

more sin for the sinners 

more time for the time snails 

less sin for the losers 

more wealth for the winners 

but instead  

we grow old  

fall  

off  

swirl  

and sink 

replaced  

by a fresh new  

eager beginner 

head still held by the body 

and that body was built 

to be a swimmer 

; 

-- 

We cut up rattlesnakes with a shovel  

when I was a kid... 

but what if now when you behead  

a serpent 

the body still lives?