Whenever I read this poem, I always imagine my first teacher reading it, her voice always hissed when she read anything, and when you mention the snakes, I imagine her hands gripping the book tighter and tighter... And then, at the end, she gets up, closes the curtains, says we're going to play a GAME...then, well I think you can guess what happens next. So thanks for killing me :) But really, there's some stunning vocabulary, and the rythym, the way it flows...makes me feel as if I am running my hand along a velvet sheet