forbidden knowledge

the garden
garter snake is back
again.
scales like sunflower
seeds
that
sleep inside the
basil leaves.

it stalks slowly
like
crystallized honey
and thaws
the frosty
thursday air
in measured
bifurcated tastes.

i sit beside
the
sliding glass panels
with pink sugared grapefruit
segments
for breakfast
and contemplate
the silent stance between us

it
lisps whispers
and stares 
with glistening obsidians
 that seem to swallow
secrets 

about
the skin
picked from
 palms;
life lines
flaked into
forks
and the palmfull
of blondes
aside the sleepless pillows

the
garden garter
slithers
inside
again
and seeps into
the walls