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Mourning The Loss of A Friend
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Mourning The Loss of A Friend |
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DreamEvil Member Elite
since 1999-06-22
Posts 2396 |
A friend very near and dear to me died on New Year's Eve. To be honest her passing will go unnoticed and without mourning. Because of that I have decided to write a bit about her in hopes that my reasons for missing her will be understood by someone. This will undoubtedly waver between prose and verse as well as perspectives, so please bear with me. Warm Fed Content Curious Playful I bask in the warmth that seeps into my cold blood and aged body. Four walls have been my world since memory began in me, yet I am fed and content. Curiosity fills me when I taste the Keepers and their outside world. I want to know and explore. I am lethal, deadly to them and to all that annoy me. They fear me, I can taste it rising from their flesh. They are not prey, they give me prey yet still the sourness of fear taints them when they come near. Smaller ones bang and rap upon my walls. Vibration not borne of prey irritates me. Even they taste of fear as they watch me feed. There is one and one alone who has no fear within him at sight of me. He gives me respect in its place. He came to me in my old age and cared for me for a time. He would give me prey with regard for my mood. He removed prey that tempted me not with his hands. Those gentle hands would guide me to one side or move me from my empty water dish. First, he would stroke me as I swallowed my prey. Once he reached for my prey and curious, I went to taste that hand. There was no fear, no quiver of terror, only the taste of love. Three years after we met, he left me, not without warning and words of goodbye. I have no ears to hear them, but I felt the tremor in his hand with his last caress. I tasted his sadness and the metallic tang of pain. In goodbye and for his care, I kissed his gentle hand one last time. Then he was gone from me. Who would shed a tear for one such as she? Caught up in their fear they taunt her instead. After their abuse I offered safety. When I found my Muse I knew she was dead. There is no tribute but the one I write, For I am not mute and my heart must cry. I saw her beauty and deadly delight. This rhyme, my duty, to she who did die, Breaks my heart in two for I love her still. Every word is true written through the pain. Her passing has left a void I must fill, For I am bereft as my friend lies slain By the hands of Time though her life was long. I hope through this rhyme to appease her ghost For she earned her rest deserving no wrong. Of friends she was best, I miss her the most. For those of you who know it not by now, my friend was a Timber Rattlesnake (yes I know, another snake). I have spoken of my bond with the Nature Center's Black Rat Snake, but not of the unique rapport I share with the other reptiles at SNC. I am trying to honor them all in my next prose work. I also ask that those who cannot see a snake as a friend or how I could mourn an animal to try and understand. She died on New Year's Eve and would have been twenty this coming year. She lived twice her natural span. When I touched her, she felt rough and coarse, unlike any other snake I have handled. She was also intensely curious about everything, acting somewhat like a cat. This ends my first post to Feelings. ©2000 DreamEvil Now and forever, my heart hears ~one voice~. DreamEvil© ------------------------------------------------------- "Either kill me or take me as I am, because I'll be damned if I ever change..." Count Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade (Marquis de Sade) |
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Dark Angel Member Patricius
since 1999-08-04
Posts 10095 |
Scott,This is really sad, I am sorry for the loss of yor friend.Be it a snake another animal or a person, we do grow attached to them and when they do leave it is hard. I understand Soul-Brother. What comes from the heart goes to the heart. Samuel Coleridge |
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Skyfyre Senior Member
since 1999-08-15
Posts 1906Sitting in Michael's Lap |
News flash -- yes, reptiles CAN be affectionate pets -- one might even say that they are the ideal pet, because if properly trained, they will enjoy any attention you give them without having a constant NEED for it like many other animals. I have owned and worked with many reptiles, and I can sympathize with this, Scott -- even the most deadly of them has personality, if you care enough to look closely. Thank you for sharing this my friend.  --Kess You cannot choose the way of your death, but the path you choose will determine its own end. |
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Terrina Kethryveris Member
since 1999-12-06
Posts 53USA |
Scott my friend I am sorry for your loss I feel your pain myself. I don't care much for snakes, but I have had a few lizards and I know how affectionate they can be. Sorry my friend. Terri Truth be known, fantasy is much more appealing than reality. |
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hoot_owl_rn Member Patricius
since 1999-07-05
Posts 10750Glen Hope, PA USA |
No offense Scott, but I can't believe I'm sitting here crying for a snake. Very moving tribute your words are. I know you mourn her and my thoughts are with you. You've done a most exxecelent job at this. Hugs Ruth |
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Severn Member Rara Avis
since 1999-07-17
Posts 7704 |
Of course it's understandable dark one, of course. We can be closer to animals than to humans many times I think. I have had no contact with snakes (but you know I want to!) and OK - they'd probably eat cats, hehe, but I feel just this way whenever I lose a cat. Sets me back for days. Many hugs, my friend...you have honoured her with this. K |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
Animals are some of the truest friends Scott, I believe this. |
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PhaerieChild Senior Member
since 1999-08-30
Posts 1787Aloha, Oregon |
Scott I am so sorry for your loss. I personally love snakes. I am glad that she lived a full long life and that someone was there to care for her in her elderly years and I would think that she was glad that someone was you. She sounds like a very special friend and I offer my condolences to you, sweet gentle caring person that you are. Poetry~ Words falling on paper, painting a dream. Shawna R. Holder Boise, Idaho |
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DreamEvil Member Elite
since 1999-06-22
Posts 2396 |
Most all of the snakes we have are nearly twenty years old and need to be replaced by younger exhibit animals. Writing some prose about them I am. Thank you for understanding. Most would not see a venomous animal as worthy of such devotion. Now and forever, my heart hears ~one voice~. DreamEvil© ------------------------------------------------------- "Either kill me or take me as I am, because I'll be damned if I ever change..." Count Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade (Marquis de Sade) |
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Munda Member Elite
since 1999-10-08
Posts 3544The Hague, The Netherlands |
Furred or smooth-skinned, human or animal, a friend is a friend and losing one leaves an emptyness, no-one can fill. |
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caroline Senior Member
since 1999-08-16
Posts 1218http://members.xoom.com/belladona123/index.htm |
I know how much you loved your friend, Scott. And she loved you too. Your kindness to animals is heartwarming. You seem to have a special bond with them. Nothing hurts quite like the loss of one of these beloved friends... Hugs my dear. It's not the love you fear, but the fall from the height~Edwin McCain |
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