The Serpent's Eye

The Serpent's Eye
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“As fascinating as
the serpent’s eye”
—Paul Bowles
The Spider’s House
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The Aissoua snake-charmers—
In Marrakech valued the old
Hunter of Snakes

Ahmed was his son—
Who succeeded him there
In Taroudant

He made the same trip—
Into the vast desert to
The Home of the Serpents
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Snakes are like people—
You have to get to know them
And then they’re your friends

But it was more—
That just that as the boy
Allal had learned

The satisfaction felt—
Turning into a Snake was
A dark hidden mystery
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An unforgivable Stain—
Blotting out everything
Incomprehensively

Touching everything—
That the Snakes touched
Seeing thru the Serpent’s Eye

Ahmed had learned—
From the old Snake Dealer
That Kif paste was his Master
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Letting oneself be—
Taken over completely by
The majoun magic

The boy understood—
What Allal hadn’t done
To be wary of Snakes

The state of pure evil—
Feeling one’s head inside
The head of a Snake
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Without a thought—
Accepting the eye and the
Snake being together

Scales fell from his—
Human eyes as his eyes
Became the Serpent’s gaze

He saw as a Snake sees—
Felt the undulating strength
Of his slithy stealthy loins
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His Third Eye opened up—
His forehead divided down
The middle into two faces

His pupils narrowed—
His forked tongue pulsed
He felt the Snake’s heartbeat

His skin merged into—
Scales shifting in shadows
Separated by sleekness
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Snaking thru Snake-skin—
His pupils insistently
Dilating & going vertical

He stared into blackness—
Felt the polished sides of
His new stealthy body

The Snake that was him—
Slid slowly down down his hips
Down along his legs
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Ahmed's legs got longer—
And more lanky as he
Elongated with a rush

He felt the pull—
Of the darkness within
And was swallowed by it

The polished surfaces—
Of his slit eyes on both sides
Of his pointed sleek head
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He uncoiled himself—
From the hairy monstrous
Creature he’d been before

Streamlined, sleek—
The strangeness of the cool
Crystalline moonlight

He slithered further down—
His snaky thighs rejoicing
His new sense of freedom
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It was different than—
Anything he imagined
Perfectly writhing smoothly

Skin of Snake—
His foreskin sliding back
To reveal his Snakehood

Caressing his nude belly—
Veins weaving up past his
Bellybutton to his nipples
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Feeling his erect tits—
And everything else about
Him undulating obscenely

The voice of the muezzin—
Floating out over the city
Marrakech City of Majoun

Ahmed above in a Trance—
Breathing hard as he became
The Snake far down below
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He was seeing thru—
The eyes of a Snake now
No longer thru his own

He could feel himself—
Down between his legs as
He became King Cobra

The Snake Charmers—
In Marrakech secretly
Worshipped him nightly
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He was Snake now—
Pipe-smoke and Kif-paste
Had transformed him

The Snake undressed him—
Stretched him out on a mat
Naked and erect

No doubt the Snake—
Was familiar with the way
A boy strokes himself
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Ahmed’s brown body—
The Snake’s stony yellow eyes
Knew what each wanted

Ahmed crawled into himself—
Feeling the wiggling veins
Of his new Snake Torso

The coming of daylight—
The Snake’s bruised head
Lost in stained seguia pubes
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Squirming back into—
Himself after sinking his
Fangs deep into his mind

Draining the Snake dry—
Of its engorged Poison
Turning himself inside-out

Ahmed becoming again—
A young Snake Hunter like
His wise ancient father