The old cat flexes, sniffs

And scratches at your door

Knowing you’re home

She calls, these hot afternoons

To tease you, or kill

Amongst terracotta tiles

Stacked by the wall

Where the sunflowers grow

Timid yet lethal

Motionless, a tongue flickers 

In stride with the feline

Together we age

Dear venomous friend

As I patiently wait for

Scant glimpses of you

From beneath July’s ferocious blue

To shadows I’m beckoned

Leading the cat in retreat

So small rodents may play

But the viper calls the tune

Photograph: I find it very difficult to take photographs of snakes because they’re usually quite shy, especially the little fella that lives in our garden. So here’s a big, friendly, pampered python that I once met on holiday.