Thamnophis gigas, thamnophis gigas
sunning her five-foot stripes,
coiling the low juniper bed,
head erect and alert for toads
and hawkmoths back
from southern hatch.
Alarmed in damp surprise,
Primeval fear, then sinking,
Why hadn’t I seen her?
I dropped the sharp pruner.
Instantly, her name like a medieval chant
Had I cut her, clamping down sharp blades
so surely on dusty under branches?
We had waited to find each other
this long winter,
now, here, we
in suburban-country interface,
mama cows and their little ones
freed into the steamy pasture,
wandering the fenceline,
peaceful witnesses of wonder.