Then and Now

Before, you were the enemy,

much loathed,

feared for remaining elusive,

hanging aloof,

evading and retreating,

after your initial brief attack.

I hunted you in dense jungles,

while you burrowed in deserts dry.

In leafy canopies I screwed up my eyes to seek you,

while you slithered underground.

Mocking my paltry attempts to spear you,

you strung me up

and snuck away.

But now I’ve some to see you

as an ally or a guide.

Drunk on your beauty,

I follow wheresoever you might lead.

Brief glimpses keep me in love,

alluring, bewitching,

I know the pleasure of succumbing.

We could almost be friends.