Our resident protector, the king snake, has shed his skin.
"And now he's larger," Paul states. Was that a note of concern in his voice?
Thrice seen consorting with the tortoise, he glides, languid, fluid as a stream, benevolent monarch, earth-tied gracefully; yet will, provoked, engage and defeat vipers of all configuration.
Coyotes, across the wash, yip above the watering hole.
Sacred waters, drench the dry despot with life, fullness.
—Carl Stoeckel