I leapt from the mud,
Fistful of a writhing garter snake I’d caught.
Soft leather flesh pulsed with life
Wrapped around my wrist.
From the berry bush my mother called
And told me pies take dedication.
Dedication. Death dictation.
Dead irrigation. Dread isolation.
Dinner is so long from now.
Ten huckleberries for my tongue.
I’ll save five for the pie.
Leave the rest for the grizzly guest.
One simply does not work for pie
When snakes are in the bog.
Huckleberries
Daniel Z. McKenzie is a 22 year-old college student studying English, Greek, and Linguistics at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Daniel was raised during his later childhood in Cusco, Peru and although he constantly misses the Andes Mountains, he now contents himself with backpacking and general tomfoolery in the American outdoors. When he is not out sleeping in the back of his Subaru or climbing a mountain, Daniel can be found studying long-dead languages while sampling his own expansive tea collection.