by Martina Rimbaldo
The Corn Snake
The corn snake that my daughter dreamed of.
The corn snake that she begged us for.
The corn snake that came from a reputable reptile rescue.
The corn snake creamsicle orange and just as sweet.
The corn snake the size of a fat worm.
The corn snake a forked-tongue manifestation of love for our first born.
The corn snake we surprised her with on her 17th birthday.
The corn snake waiting to be held for the first time by his human mom.
The corn snake tenderly handed to her like she was handed to me by the nurse.
The corn snake that captivated her eyes the same way she did mine.
So tiny, so helpless, so ready to meet adventures.
The corn snake put behind glass.
The corn snake named Gus, an ode to her favorite show, Psych.
The corn snake her sidekick detective as she figured out year 18 and COVID.
The corn snake that wondered where she went for a year.
The corn snake that heard our cries when we decided to leave Los Angeles.
The corn snake that traveled across the country in a homemade crate.
The corn snake is the poem.
The corn snake we snuck into roadside hotels from Albuquerque to Little Rock to Birmingham.
The corn snake that grew and grew and grew.
The corn snake that shed and shed and shed like each of us these days.
The corn snake that has had enough of being looked behind glass.
The corn snake that won’t come out of his cave until it is acknowledged he is no longer a child.
The corn snake that just got a bigger tank.
The corn snake says that’s not enough.
He wants to break free.
Candice Kelsey [she/her] is a poet, educator, and activist currently living in the southeastern United States. She serves as a creative writing mentor with PEN America’s Prison & Justice Writing Program; her work appears in Grub Street, Poet Lore, Lumiere Review, Hawai’i Pacific Review, and Slant among other journals. Recently, Candice was chosen as a finalist in Iowa Review’s Poetry Contest and Cutthroat’s Joy Harjo Poetry Prize. Her third book titled A Poet just released with Alien Buddha Press. Find her @candicekelsey1 and www.candicemkelseypoet.com.
Martina Rimbaldo is a woman who lives and works in Croatia. Loves to paint abstract paintings, read religious books, watch horror as well as old movies with Audrey Hepburn, Sharon Tate, Brigitte Bardot who happens to share her birth date and (over)thinks especially about death, what some people find morbid but not her, it is a part of life too. Her goal is to be a good person. Instagram and Twitter: @MartinaRimbaldo