I crouch in the bush and bare my glistening fangs,
She scurries by - I twitch - it was a hunger pang
He slouches over a keyboard staring at an iridiscent glow
and pecks sullenly, injecting his mind into the flow

I strike, burying my fangs deep into her back
she snaps, agape, then resigns to the attack.
"Like you handled the Curtis Bell account, Julie", he says with satisfaction
She hangs her head - the unfortunate secret - she knows he's won.

Beady eyes rolling, forked tongue flicking, scaled jaws devour the kill;
my venom arrests the heart, her tail twitches once, its last, then perfectly still.
"Sorry Julie, I really wanted this promotion.", he strains to keep his eyes level,
She nods sadly, understands; he turns away, his face half dark - the devil.

Fleeting clouds, days and nights, I am now coiled 'round a pipe in the sewer,
peering from beneath the curb, those lofty humans, could I be any lower?
His monitor cuts out, briefcase snaps shut; he smiles, and reaches for his coat,
it had to be done, he won, a fine case study the MBA students wrote.

I am a beast, depraved, poisonous, yes, damn me for all that
I must kill to feed, or perish myself, merely the rules of my habitat.
He steps out of the corporate slaughterhouse, glowing in his win,
and strides across the pavement, over the curb, unaware of the brute within.

I see food, I must feed, only that - there is nothing I needlessly loot,
thus I emerge, sting the expensively shod, silk socked foot.
A muffled scream, I recoil in terror, my venom thwarted by his obstinate spine!
I retire to the jungle, sadder, wiser: his poison is stronger than mine.