Little Snake

Kate Oksas

Two fingers finding a human pulse
A moth beating against the window
A moth no bigger
Than a watermelon seed
I held a little snake too tightly by the throat
And killed it
My thumbs by its eyes and four fingers fastened on each side underneath
Through the yielding cavity above the floor of its mouth
I dropped it
In surprise because
I didn’t know that life was that soft

Bio
Kate Oksas is a College junior interested in neuroscience, writing and everything in between. She is studying Biological Basis of Behavior with a minor in Creative Writing.