We both survived the awkward meeting, and can laugh about it now.
I saw a snake—
Quite a large one, actually—
And some days afterward,
When most of the excitement had subsided,
I realized in my quieter moments
That I had begun to feel as if,
By appearing to me unannounced as it had,
The thing had done me wrong,
And owes me an apology.
But I try to be fair about these things,
And I should tell you that
After ample consideration,
I have not yet imagined a way
By which the thing
Might have broken it to me gently
That it was there.
