The Snake's Lair

There was once a girl named Astoria whose mother made a mistake. There was once a boy named Draco who did not have a choice. They both met at the Snake's Lair. And they both fell.

I saw a young snake glide
Out of the mottled shade
And hang, limp on a stone:
A thin mouth, and a tongue
Stayed, in the still air.

It turned; it drew away;
Its shadow bent in half;
It quickened and was gone

I felt my slow blood warm.
I longed to be that thing.
The pure, sensuous form.

And I may be, some time.
(Poem by: Theodore Roethke)