I was in love once.
She was a young blonde.
Actually she was a baby.
Yeah she was a baby
rattlesnake.
We used to lay on hot
rocks coiled and content.
We even had dreams of
leaving the swamp,
Getting a nice place
in New Mexico
so we could be
closer to the birds.
It was silly,
but day after day
I would count her
diamonds and she would
shake that tiny rattle
warning me that if
I ever left I would regret
it for the rest of my life.
I bit her one day just to
see what would happen.  
Well she bit back.
She did not let go.
For a long while.
when she did I dripped  
profusely and I screamed.
“Baby, baby!
Look what you've done!”
It has been over a year now
and every morning I hang
my arm over the bathroom sink
and squeeze at my plumpest vain.
I still can't get that **** out.