The Friday Poem: ‘A Snake Called France’ by Ruben Mita
A new poem by Ruben Mita.
A Snake Called France
My sister had a snake called France
and a horse called Birthday
and a one-handed haircut.
France moved
like the midday shadows
of fish over seagrass.
When my sister took her out to taste the air,
she shone
like a letterbox jewelled with rain.
Once we rowed out on the lake
and my Uncle pulled out a fish,
a thrashing, maddened mirrorball.
My sister stroked its brow to calm it down,
while in its scales her face
broke into a thousand pieces.
France was the only one
who didn’t mind.
My sister had a hidden smile
and a snake called France
and she lived in two worlds.
The Friday Poem is edited by Hera Lindsay Bird. Submissions are now open. Please send up to three poems in a PDF or Word document to info@thespinoff.co.nz
Ruben Mita
Ruben Mita is a poet, musician and ecologist based in Pōneke. He has been published in Landfall, Takahē, Starling, Mayhem, Minarets, Turbine, a fine line and Best New Zealand Poems. He likes fish, fungi and fires, and wants to create poetry with overlapping realities.
