A sweatless snake glides by you,
Towards a desert cul-de-sac.
His flicking lust derides you
But clutches at the life he lacks.

A towering, skinny silver birch
Is masochistically stripped
And in the breeze begins to lurch,
Its nerves exposed, ambition clipped.

A toothless bat yelps drowning red,
All efforts at avoidance failed.
His wings are rotting, dripping shreds;
Your sharpened wit has him impaled.

A lawn of dandelions smiles out,
About to spit a field of seeds,
Their grinning faces leave no doubt,
They fail to hide their grasping needs.

Corrosive ants are gathering
About your feet, around your food.
Their pincers clatter, slavering
For just a nip, a taste renewed.

A single magpie, glinty-eyed,
Is dying to relinquish sorrow.
But joy, occasionally spied,
Is far and farther still tomorrow.