Into the Viper's Eyes

But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.
-----------------------------[Into the Viper's Eyes; Paul’s Words to the Viper that Bit Him]


I was riding a horse on the way to Damascus
(with no harness)
when dazzling lights blinded me, lacerating my eyes forming scales
flinging me to the ground
though in the passing of 3 days I regained my sight.
I was the victim of conspiracy, assassination by the Jews
yet escaped death nestled in a basket
through a hole in the wall suspended by a rope
tightly tied, I hurried to Jerusalem
my flesh torn back whipped 39 times 5 times
each time enduring just enough to live
save one blow
save one stone that would have killed me
when my adversaries left me for dead
and I stared at the stars
wondering when I would breathe my last...

And you fear the heat much more
than I fear my demise
and you disregard life much more
than I fear the consternation in your eyes
the pain in my wrist
and the sullen expressions on the company I keep

When the sun rises tomorrow
I will do as the angel told me
(as he chuckled at my past calamities)
I will preach to Caesar
and write to Timothy and share the kinship with my men
and bathe my feet in the tide of the ocean
but tonight you will go from whence you cannot return
into the fire
into hell where you have sent so many before you
weeping
and gnashing your (blood stained) teeth




[Acts 28: 1-6]
Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live." But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.