Box of Snakes
a doorbell introduction
the front door opens (by itself?) on a bright fall morning
a small brown package occupies the porch
a delivery man booking up the driveway back to his van
kicking up fallen yellow and orange leaves
his muffled crunching footfalls the only sound
the package changes shape and size unseen
staring at it, it holds a single form
but look away and look back…….
once or maybe twice it seemed to move a little
as if it contained a small animal waking up
you think, ‘box of snakes’
the neighborhood changes too between seeings
silent houses are moving closer to us, getting smaller
the trees are shorter too as if leaning in to see better
remembered things are changing with each recall
long-forgotten fruit trees huddle under the weight of oranges
big as pumpkins, apples the size of cantaloupes in-glowing and slightly menacing
———————-
one of mine, the title cut from my recent book called Box of Snakes: Poems 2015, available from Amazon
The Dog Star 
2 Responses to “Box of Snakes”
I like the narrative quality of this and the other poetry you have on this site. The metaphor of snakes, comparing the box’s changing with the town and memory, is, I think, particularly effective. Good work.
Thanks, Thomas. I think of my poems as much like short fiction. Glad you like it.