The orange trail ascends Halfway Mountain. Yellow and brown elm leaves blanket the flanks of the path. As I say something to Mira, I jump with a start. Inches away, a black rat snake lies still.
A sight surpassed only by the timber rattler we encounter off the Pine Meadow trail.
rattling the woods suddenly so clear
Photo by Patrick Boucher
first published in Image Curve, June 24, 2020
for dVerse Poets’ Open Link Night #269
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Categories: haikai, haiku community
Frank J. Tassone 
It was so interesting… I didn’t catch that you were jumping for a harmless snake and saw the rattler later.
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That was my first live reading in nearly a year. I’m a little rusty! 😆
Thanks for hosting the Google Meet. It was great! I’d absolutely do it again!
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Great… maybe you will host next time.
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I would be happy to, whenever you think it appropriate. Perhaps before another of our breaks? Makes a natural transition.
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Yikes!! And double yikes!
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Reptilian bliss, exciting brevity. I agree that the “meet & greet” was a thunderous success, and will participate again. I never did figure out how to get all 19 guests on the screen.
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Snakes can be unsettling at first glance! Very nice!
Good to see you on the web group. I had password issues that kept me from showing up.
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Wow! Snakes on the path. Rattler sounds dangerous. I like the format, so too the point of being rattled by snakes. We are lucky here that we do not have many poisonous ones. Only rare vipers but often get a harmless one in the house for some reason Still rattles me!
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“Rattler” is an American colloquial term for rattlesnake, a poisonous viper with a “rattle” at the end of its tail. It will shake its tail to warn off potential predators and enemies; that shaking produces the rattling sound.
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At least a warning!
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I was hiking in old ruins in Arizona a few years back and encountered a rattlesnake. It’s a bit scary..yikes
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Snakes that don’t rattle don’t scare me. Those that do, do. Two on one walk is more than enough!
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I was concentrating so hard on listening to your voice, I missed the point that there were two snakes – and one was a rattle snake – wow! We have so few snakes here in the British Isles, we forget they exist until we meet the only dangerous one, the adder. , Some years ago, I found one in our garden and just managed to call our old dog away before he could be bitten. I haven’t seen one since.
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I am not fond of such encounters…(k)
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They are beautiful creatures aren’t they?
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Indeed! Although I’d just as soon not see the second in the wild! LOL!
Thank you! 🙂
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Like most I think, I have not time for snakes; especially rattlers. Great post, but I glad you wrote about the encounter instead of me.
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