It’s so close

I can touch it

I can smell it

I can breathe the air around it

It’s so close

I can hear the serpent whisper in my ear

The fruits of my labor grow so near

A whisker’s length away

A beautiful death away

A shaky breath and I say

No

But it’s so close

Scales wrap around my neck

Squeeze tight till I’m out of breath

Change your mind they seem to say

There’s still time they deign to pray

Laughing at devilish naïveté

I am more than you thought I would be

Push it in my hand I’ll turn away

If it’ll kill me I know what I’ll say

I’ll say

No

Just go

Away

You can’t tempt me

You can’t trick me

I’m better than

You thought I would be

Taught me well

Now who am I?

If you are the moon

Than I am the sky

Little snake who’s tongue did whisper

Half a world away you now slither

Use another for your cruel schemes

I’m much more than I might seem

I turned away

Though it was so close

Deaths away

Now I’ll never know

A smile away

I don’t regret

That I said no

Just to see the look on your face.