A Water Moccasin in Oklahoma

This was not a turtle's head
conning above the water
for a turtle peers in benign curiosity
upon the esoteric actions of humans in his lake
No,this head was attached to a body filled with purpose
as it pushed its rippled path across the surface
A Father, his two chubby sons and small daughter
in the water by the dock
and we shouted "Snake! Get out of the water!"
The chubby sons, nearly to the swim raft
crawled out breathing hard
Small daughter thrashed to the dock ladder and up
While Father sat immobile in his inflatable chair
The water moccasin made a line toward him, fast
"I see him" said the man
brandishing a foam float in defensive mode
and the snake came on, stopping at last nine feet from the man
suddenly still in the water
his black eyes on the man's
Who, sensing resolve in the creature
spun suddenly and climbed the ladder in panic
This the snake watched, then lunged forward into the man's wake
emerging on the other side in cattails, disappearing
The lake was still
but in the deceptive, gentle ripples
we saw the shadows of something beneath the surface
something of dark purpose
sensing our presence as a minor intrusion
which it would ignore, or dispose of,
with equal cold calculation