March 2021
Bio Note: I live, write and have a small therapy practice in Seattle, WA. For twenty one
years I worked in AIDS services, while learning and practicing the Wise Woman Tradition of herbalism.
I have three poetry books, publications can be found on my website.
You Were a Snake
Shiny thing
dressed up
on down days
in tails
finger painted nails
a ruffled shirt
you shook me
a teen
mesmerized by your snake eyes
wooed by the music: Smokey,
Isaac Hayes—
a constant supply of drugs
You were the glint
I needed, pretty boy in bright lights
how we never went anywhere
you preferred to lie in wait
looking beautiful
I saw only what I wanted to see
shiny thing
glitter gold nails
a man with clothes from another era
bought at retro thrift shops
a silk neck viper you wrapped around me
for a minute that summer of love
we integrated the world
I just getting started
didn’t realize how fast your bite
your python hugs
©2021 Julene Tripp Weaver
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