Slight movement perceived out of the corner of my eye draws my attention;
amidst the rolling waves of new, green grass, heavy with seeds
I see the bumblebee stripes;
two bull snakes dance in courtship;
rolling and writhing
beautiful yellow bellies turned skyward before turning stripes up again;
tumbling down the hill in a timeless dance
crossing millenia
controlled by instinct and warming sun
before retreating to their hole
and there will be no rattlesnakes this year
on windy hill
so long as the bumblebee stripes
can be seen in the grass.

*Note: these bull snakes were each over six feet long. I was so glad to see them because where the bull snakes are, the rattlers are not. And even though they will bite, they are not poisonous and retreat long before they are seen. I felt extremely privileged to see this and wish I had snapped a photo to share