The sun beats down
with burning rays
atop a desert sand.
Nothing moves,
there is no sound,
among the Earth's dryland.

The hard ground cracks
a little more
as the days get hotter.
Only a snake
sits by a pool
of freshly cold spring water.

The water provides the snake with life
without it,
he would die.
But the snake
sees something else:
a pool he can't deny.

For it had trees
that shaded him,
more comfortable a space.
But this pool
was not as pure
no not as much in grace.

Either way,
the snake moved on
across that pool of shade,
giving in
to all temptations
that the water made.

He was never unhappy
and stayed
for quite a while.
For the pool
was something new
whose looks would all beguile.

Until one day,
the snake woke up
and found the water gone.
For all that was left-
a pile of dirt,
and nothing to count on.

And so he went
back to the place
for which he had vacated.
Alas he found,
it too was ground.
The pool evaporated.

The snake grew frantic.
Filled with panic,
his life had reached it's deadline.
The warmth was gone.
He'd never see dawn.
So long, the Desert Sunshine.