What if
a green snake
has lived in
the green grass all these years,
despite changes
to climate,
hidden
in the richness
of its own colour,
even when
famine struck?
Emerald,
undulating
and coiling
but never striking,
living its best life
while Paddy
is celebrated –
he didn’t do
a proper job.
Perhaps he knew,
thought he’d test faith,
spice up mythology
and give himself a pat on the back.
Maybe he was himself a bit of a snake.
Kim M. Russell, 17th March 2026
It’s 17th March, St Patrick’s Day and, at the dVerse Poets Pub, Lisa is hosting Poetics with Irish blessings.
Lisa has given us some background to Paddy’s Day fact and fiction, and symbolism.
Our challenge is to choose any image, object, song, or concept from the prompt and use it to inspire a poem.
writing in north norfolk 
Ah, what if? I love the mythology around it all.
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Thank you!
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Kim, I love your musing on a snake in the grass. One of those times and places I will visit in my time machine. Would love to see what really happened!
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Thank you, Lisa! A time machine would be great, but Lucas has promised to invent a portal so I can visit whenever I want to.
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Awwwwwwww ❤ Necessity of a grandmother's love is the mother of invention.
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I love the form you used to create your poem. And the subtle plays on words with Paddy and pat and him being a “bit” of a snake.
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Thank you for close reading, Melissa.
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luv your sepentine formed poem
Nice one
much love
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Thank you, Gillena.
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“Maybe he was himself a bit of a snake.” Ha loved that last line. Excellent poem and I loved the snarky tone!!!
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Thank you, Cara!
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I love this. How gorgeous. Especially “hidden
in the richness
of its own colour”
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Thank you, Shawna!
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Slithers across the page perfectly. Cool work, K. Thanks
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Thank you, Ron!
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I love how your pondering slithered down the page much like the green snake in your poem. I imagine a green snake could hide well in nearby greenery.
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Thank you, Truedessa.
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I admire how you weaved this concrete poem, Kim! Happy St. Pat’s!
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Thank you very much, Jennifer. And to you! 💚
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Kim – a playful, visually rhythmic piece gives a clever ‘gotcha’ to the historical narrative. 🙌 💚
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Thank you, Ange! 💚
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Interesting take!
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Thank you, Susan.
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Enjoyed your poem, Kim … especially how it wriggled on my monitor! Well, how I imagined it anyway …
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Thanks Helen!
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Great poem, Kim!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
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Thank you, Yvette!
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You sure can’t banish snakes creating a Hell of them. It’s like Shakespeare said — such poison returns to scotch the inventor. Green is the slithery meadow of springtide wakings — get rid of snakes and you banish nature as well. Oops.
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