Photo by Frédéric Barriol on Unsplash
First, chop off the head: this is how to cause the least
pain. Any knife will work if it’s sharp.
Dead in an instant. You may blot the blood
with a paper towel.
Second, flip it over, invert the curse:
with the ventral side up it will be easy
to find a small hole along the scales. From there
a paring knife will do—sharp scissors work too.
Third, (slowly) run your knife through the skin
until you reach what was once the head
and open the body as you would a book.
Do observe the guts.
Fourth, rip off the sinew that holds
the poor fucker together—cut through
the silverskin and be sure not to puncture
the skin, for it will stain it with blood.
Fifth, grasp with one hand its skin
and with another the innards and pull:
pull firmly until they’re apart.
Do with the meat what you will.
After all it’s just a
snake.