here i am

here i am, soft as a worm underneath
your earth, it will be easy for you to crush me

i am uncrushed.

here i am, a little bird on the nest of a bush
at your easy reach, you can always catch me.

i am never caught.

here i am, a molting snake in my own hole,
you can always move me away, and touch me.
touch me gently, if you wish, if you will,

i may bite, and may have the power to
numb and kill you,

i may be beautiful and helpless but like you
i can also be this snake
woman, that you fear.

sometimes, the wind tells the tree
about what its leaves deserve.