left behind

the skin
of the snake is clear,
a translucent
image
showing you that it
was once here.
the stripes of it,
the checks,
the braid of its kind
imprinted
on the fine empty
spool,
the ghost of it now
left behind.
but where is it,
this snake,
not this
piece of art, this
cloak of life,
it's this question
that comes to mind.