the second kind

[aptsvet]

death is a whale of an idea and serves
us as a frightful shibboleth you either
pretend you're not the very rabbit which
the serpent is ingesting with the cotton-
tail still protruding from its gaping maw
or like a proper and proverbial rabbit
you stand your ground and meet him eye-to-eye
mano-a-mano as they say in spain
if mano is the fitting term to use

i've always been the second kind of rabbit
so much less common deemed all but extinct
that keeps its certain doom within its eyesight
an aberrant item of pride until
i came across you of the same persuasion
who now take all the space that earlier was
owned by the serpent death has gained a roommate
you pull my stare aside and never blink

king bloody solomon wasn't he the first
to juxtapose the two which kind i am
now that the erstwhile shibboleth is moot
i look at your digital effigy
all but the tail is gone i start along the
queens boulevard and discern across the road
love with its scythe and hourglass held aloft