Feeding

The tip of his snout is followed by

A flicking tongue, unblinking eye.

His slender neck starts to emerge

As his body obeys an ancient urge.

He sniffs the air and warily,

Searches for predators larger than he.

Sensing a tiny body’s heat,

He’s driven on by the need to eat.

Like a glacier he seems to flow,

Ponderously, steady and slow.

A creeping death, he winds his way,

Towards his naked, vulnerable prey.

And then too quick for mammals’ eyes,

His coils engulf the prey he surprised.

Needle-like tiny teeth imbed

In the hapless rodent’s squishy head.

He dislocates his little jaw

To make a larger gaping maw.

As his swallows his prey obscenely

Distorts his pale underbelly.

An extra tongue, so tiny and pale

Is the disappearing rodents’ tail.

Content, he gives an almighty yawn.

The snake has fed, the rat is gone.