by Nick Gisburne
If only we believed the words you say
Your voice is calm, articulate, sincere
But from the Great Unknown, this very day
The child you seek came forth, and spoke her fear
She told us you had followed her at night
To offer strange, exotic gifts of gold
But as she slept you claimed her with a bite
A sacrifice, a servant, to be sold
A creature of the underworld, a cheat
But not the humble traveller you seem
Although your prose and poetry are sweet
We saw this day’s deception in a dream
The girl is not your property to take
Her flesh will feed the Kingdom of the Snake
