Keeping Serpents at Bay

by Tom Mueller

A strange wind blows around me these days
A scent of changed is mixed with the haze
This no surprise - BP is regrouping
Yet something lurks deeper, my spirit is drooping

Pondering yes, this often I do
Examining thoughts like snakes in a zoo
They slither around, aimless at times,
Til pouring all out in verses and rhymes

One thought keeps nagging, deeper than most
It sits here beside me, opaque like a ghost
I know it is here, I feel the yearning
More ominously, though, my sixth sense is burning

Change can concern, or it can enlighten
Its ominous side so loves to frighten
Yet change has a brother who's harder to find
He brings new excitement and a fresh state of mind

Lately I dither on new auto lots
I want a new car, but sense it makes not
Regardless, somehow my body arrives
I look at the cars, take them for drives

Yet just two weeks hence, my job could be gone
I'd have my new wheels, but no place to roam
I laugh 'cause it's silly, yet this is my way
Searching for cars to keep serpents at bay

March 2008