It crackled & popped,
after it had moved like an eel.
It glowed & then charred;
it was pungent.
It was impossible to conceal.

He claimed to be mesmerized.
That it was medicinal -
for the pain.
But in truth,
he was abstracted --
-- singed & weakened..
Oh, flame...

As wolves hide, beneath sheep skin & wool -
snakes hide too, beneath false-scale & "bull."

It hungrily burned,
so brightly,
in the dark that night -
as the serpent revealed itself
to its captive-sheep -- hungry too.

The silver-tongue then began to poison & part out...
Draining them; eating them; killing them.

"Bah!" cried the sheep.

"Bah!" cried the world.

Till a wolf rose, and wolfed this snake -
snakes slither short of being wolfsbane,
whereas, a wolf
is snakesbane.

Dragons do not exist,
but wolves do.
False-dragons beware.
Fire does not dwell
within the belly of the beast..
The only fire that burns
is the one from the encampment...

...the encampment where the shepherd lie dead, bitten & poisoned --
where the sheep huddle, terrified & bloodied --
where the snake no longer slithers - twas silenced --
not by the sheep-dog - the sheep-dog ran away -- towards the horizon & its promising new days.

The snake's skin sizzled,
as it crackled
& popped,

The wolf in a frenzy - of sorts.
seeing red,
as it rips apart reptilian flayed, red-drenched, raw- remains --
caught, red-handed --
but only in the eyes-of-God,
in the still-eyes of the snake -
the wolf's reflection,
itself.