Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Pandora

The Venomous

I get delicate
Each time I shed my skin
Don’t you dare think
I am soft
If I change colours
I only want to adapt
To the shifting sand
To the strange waters
I am not the type that
Flaunts my neck hood
For hissing and missing.

My wink can smoulder
My stare can hypnotize
My bite can snatch a fly
My head lying low doesn’t mean
I’m asleep.

Clear your own path
Curl up in your own hole
Watch yourself
If you don’t know anything
Just coil up and be quiet
Don’t you try to invoke
My recessive traits
Next time
I won’t just rattle.

THE VENOMOUS

Close

The Venomous

I get delicate
Each time I shed my skin
Don’t you dare think
I am soft
If I change colours
I only want to adapt
To the shifting sand
To the strange waters
I am not the type that
Flaunts my neck hood
For hissing and missing.

My wink can smoulder
My stare can hypnotize
My bite can snatch a fly
My head lying low doesn’t mean
I’m asleep.

Clear your own path
Curl up in your own hole
Watch yourself
If you don’t know anything
Just coil up and be quiet
Don’t you try to invoke
My recessive traits
Next time
I won’t just rattle.

The Venomous

I get delicate
Each time I shed my skin
Don’t you dare think
I am soft
If I change colours
I only want to adapt
To the shifting sand
To the strange waters
I am not the type that
Flaunts my neck hood
For hissing and missing.

My wink can smoulder
My stare can hypnotize
My bite can snatch a fly
My head lying low doesn’t mean
I’m asleep.

Clear your own path
Curl up in your own hole
Watch yourself
If you don’t know anything
Just coil up and be quiet
Don’t you try to invoke
My recessive traits
Next time
I won’t just rattle.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère