The White Snake
by Joseph Stanton
A servant tastes forbidden snake,
and words of beasts open his mind
to rings of gold at sea's bottom,
to secrets of every last grain,
to ravening flights to the core
of things — where trees of life heavy
with moist green light will drop
perfect golden apples from the clouds,
so that his lowly heart can look up:
a poor boy marrying his wildest dream—
a queen gorgeous beyond belief,
overripe with long–delayed desire,
whose empty chamber he will fill
with one golden baby after another.
