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Re:I'm told they're not really slimy, but that's how I thought of them
posted by
2902
on August 24, 2012 at 6:28 AM
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Re: Thank you, Lion! You know what it's like: the smart alec line I opened
with was all I had. It occurred in an unaccountably fey moment while hiking, and I just liked the cheekiness of it. I had no idea where to go with it, but then the pieces started to come.
posted by
2902
on August 24, 2012 at 6:27 AM
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Watching them on the telly sometimes gets me all riled up, hate the sound it makes too. The poem is great Bob.
posted by
shobana
on August 24, 2012 at 4:43 AM
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I think any topic that can make us feel intensely is the most fertile ground for inspiration. This was a very clever poem, you crafted layers of implication that make it a very interesting read
posted by
lionreign
on August 24, 2012 at 3:52 AM
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Re: CC, I'd look for another pool. A duck or two might be nice.
posted by
2902
on August 24, 2012 at 12:09 AM
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Liked the poem in a gritty way Bob. If I were in a pool with the choice of a snake or a crocodile, could I choose the snake?
posted by
C_C_T
on August 23, 2012 at 11:56 PM
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Re:Annicita, thanks a lot. Now I[m not only on the couch,
but I'll be having nightmares.
posted by
2902
on August 23, 2012 at 4:10 PM
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double entry on this one.....i just got back from the smithsonian....saw the fossil of a 48 ft titanboa....huge!!!!
posted by
Annicita
on August 23, 2012 at 4:02 PM
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Re: Well, I don't trust them to give the warning soon enough. The
guy in the article was gardening and got nipped while moving a rock. As for facing my fears, I have enough already. I passed your suggestion on to Ginny, the one about bringing a rattler home?
I'm sleeping on the couch tonight.
posted by
2902
on August 23, 2012 at 2:57 PM
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Re:I couldn't agree more, Jimmy. In my case it's emotional. The
fear starts in my gut where I have so little control of it.
I was in a play (My 3 Angels)in which I was one of three convicts who combine to kill another guy, and choose to do it by means of a little poisonous snake. Defying all the common-sense warnings against using live animals on stage, one of my cohorts persuaded the director to have us use his little pet baby boa constrictor. While putting on make-up, we'd see the damned thing inching up across the big mirror. At first it freaked me out, but I got used to it.
posted by
2902
on August 23, 2012 at 2:48 PM
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Re: Yes, from the very beginning. Don't you think it's a psychological
thing, a whole feeling of otherness that comes from their having no face or limbs? Fish are similarly strange, but not in a menacing way. That's the SF horror story's formula for success - combining otherness with menace, as in the Alien series.
posted by
2902
on August 23, 2012 at 2:40 PM
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Re: Re:We're definitely on the same page, Mariss. It's hard to think about
oops, without emotion creeping in. Probably a lot like thinking too much about where steaks and chops come from.
posted by
2902
on August 23, 2012 at 2:32 PM
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Re:We're definitely on the same page, Mariss. It's hard to think about
posted by
2902
on August 23, 2012 at 2:30 PM
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I have garter snakes in my garden, they keep the bugs down, and out here rattlers are rather common, though I've only seen a few in the wild. You know they give one a warning before they strike, right. You should bring one home and face your fears Bob...Just kidding.
posted by
UtahJay
on August 23, 2012 at 2:26 PM
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Snakes are sometimes dangerous but hey, all God's creatures, right? 
posted by
JimmyA
on August 23, 2012 at 1:54 PM
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Humans have been confused by snakes since the beginning. Certainly they provide strong imagery in poems sir. BC-A, Bill’s R®st
posted by
BC-A
on August 23, 2012 at 12:24 PM
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I always get the creeps and willies to think of feeding mice to the creatures who devour them in darkness and suffocation after they freeze in terror. It seems a horrible process to me. I would give them very limited protection, if any. I am not sure if they create some ecological balance or not, maybe. 
posted by
mariss9
on August 23, 2012 at 12:13 PM
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