not a snake  

              a seedpod

not a chiton a curled dried leaf

not a mole a rock

   he constantly imbued inanimate things animation

                                                        as Steinbeck wrote in The Log of the Sea of Cortez enthused by biologist Doc Ricketts An ocean without its unnamed monsters would be like a completely dreamless sleep.

he named things other than they were hoping one dayAbracadabra the moment would flop like a wet sodden thing and the Improbable would prove its existence

might be asking for a lot

when in truth he was asking for the minute

                                              a sliver a shave a glimpse in a Funhouse mirror realised for a quickenedbreaths duration

desperate confirmation

fortunately he was an optimistic soul

he saw ghosts dead onhead on

caught things out of the corner of his eye

                                            he learned if he didnt avert his eyes to see them theyd stay

queer companyqueer companions

made him laugh

tickled him

his mother warned him  That’s just your imagination.   I enjoy it   Well, just as long as you don’t get carried away.   Theyre not big enough Maw   I don’t mean literally, children are so literal, so naïve.   You donae get out enough Maw  I meet naïve adults all the time   Maybe they’re not as wellread as you.   Anthas on you   It is.   You got tired of reading to me didnt you   You were insatiableare insatiable, was time you read what you wanted for yourself because goodness knows I didn’t want to read to you the books you wanted to read. Didn’t like the pictures.   I did not  I wanted to see pictures painted by words

   a seedpod not a snake

at a glance they look similar

1230,  Monday,  23  10. 23

1009,  2sday,  7  11. 23

Jeffrey Martin  Garden  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Emywv6tiBI

Amigo the Devil  The Dreamer  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FLZ8Hdtz1I