From Jester To King XLVII

Snakes snakes and always more snakes. Snakes every place. No matter where they’re seeking you out, homing right in. And when you thought the coast was clear: SNAKE. When you thought you’re home and dry: SNAKE. Why all of a sudden these pernicious bastard snakes? It’s always night time on the ranch and it’s always snakes, snakes galore, snakes wherever you may dare, behind the old pick-up, up in the ditches and the drains, in the driveways, under the lemon trees, by the veranda, in the yards, out in the fields and those little lesser-known by-ways. We sat last night in the sunken mud of the field, in our deck chairs or with our butt right down in the mud. And the ground is crawling with them. And they come up on you. And you start and you jump and you run and all you can think about is escaping the snake. In the murky gluey night. And then your sister runs away with some guy until you realise they’re not coming back. No reason given. And then you’re on your own with some random folks waiting for a call that isn’t going to come. And the snake is big and god knows what it’ll do if it gets closer, the snake is chunky and sturdy but it moves like a snake and, because you don’t know what it’ll do, you fly away from it as quick as you can, and because it comes towards you you move away but however much you get away from one there’s another hot on its heels. And true to your thought, there’s another right there. SNAKE. And there doesn’t seem like there’s anywhere you can go to be free and breathe, be free of the snake. SNAKE. So what will become of you if you’re constantly running, evading the snake? What will you be? SNAKE Who will you talk to? SNAKE What does the world look like when we’re running from snakes? SNAKE. How will you settle? How will you ever settle?