I saw a snake by the roadside and touched him with my foot
to see if he was alive.
He had a toad in his jaws while he
was preparing to swallow with his jaws to send it
to three times its width.
But he relinquished his prey in haste and fled.
And I thought as the toad jumped leisurely away
with his slime covered hindquarters glistening
in the sun, as if I his deliverer wish
to interrupt his meditations without a shriek or fainting.
I thought what a healthy indifference he manifested.
Is not the broad earth still, he said.