It was there on the trail I saw the snake
and saw the world from that point of view
To be a snake and never know what it was like to drive a car, read a book, or drink a latte
To only know this body, these eyes and fangs
To know the world from the ground level and never leave it
To know when it was time to call it a night,
and crawl under a rock to coil up.
To be a snake, and make young girls scream
To only know warmth from a hot dirt path.
As I sat in the car beside my daughter and wondered what she thought of me, I thought
Does anyone ever really know anyone at all?
Or are we on different planes of existence separated by our frames, these skins?
And if that’s true how can we ever see the world through another’s eyes? Are we fooling ourselves to think we can?
Is it as silly as me pretending to be a snake, that I might know how she thinks?
Or should I go back to my walk, and not think of it at all.
Bill Pearse 
It’s true, if you think too much about this kind of thing it’s an angst magnet. 😧
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I know! Or a repellant for sure. Thanks Kevin for reading!
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You’ve troubled me here; I hope things are okay.
~
The pursuit of empathy for good (not snaky evil) brings benefits to all, even though every one of us is, in my opinion, faking it.
~
Chas (#2 son) knows me best in the world. His laughing at my foibles keeps me going. Long may he laugh.
~
Be well and do good, dear Bill.
Kind regards,
DD
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Oh hey sorry about troubling you man! All is good here, don’t overthink it ha ha. Or be troubled. Perhaps we should be…I love snakes though. Not to pet, but love they’re so different (and misunderstood).
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When I was in my twenties I read a novel by 1920s American fantasy author James Branch Cabell. This quote impressed me so much I memorised it.
“We can never really know another person. We can only cast, from afar, despairing friendly glances in the sure knowledge they will be misinterpreted.”
I still love the existential gloominess of the quote, though these days I’m not sure the knowing is as important as the listening.
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Darn right on that BJ, the listening. Thanks for sharing that, feel that I do! Amazing you can remember that quote and that it hit you like that, wow.
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Yeah. Just don’t ask me what I did yesterday. 😜
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Who should I ask then ha ha?
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There are some who might say you could only have those thoughts if, in a previous life, you have been a snake.
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I’m more of a figure-4 kind of guy than an “eight.” (Sorry, had to do the infinity ref couldn’t resist. Tail in my mouth you know.)
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More of a newt myself.
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I see that! Getting a Monty Python vibe off that somehow. The way the lips purse at the pronunciation “newt.”
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