The Sssnake Hotel

An Indian python will welcome you
to the Ssssnake hotel.
As he finds you your keys he’ll maybe enquire
if you’re feeling well.
And he’ll say that he hopes
you survive the night,
that you sleep without screaming
and don’t die of fright
at the Ssssnake hotel.

There’s an anaconda that likes to wander
the corridors at night,
and a boa that will lower itself onto guests
as they reach, reach out for the light.
And if, by chance, you lie awake
and nearby something hisses,
I warn you now, you’re about to be covered
in tiny vipery kisses,
at the Ssssnake hotel, at the Ssssnake hotel.

And should you hear a chorus of groans
coming from the room next door,
and the python cracking someone’s bones,
don’t go out and explore.
Just ignore all the screams
and the strangled yells
when you spend your weekend
at the Ssssnake hotel.

Copyright: from Barking Back at Dogs (Macmillan, 2000), copyright © Brian Moses 2000, used by permission of the author

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