I actually did come across this wooden branch during one of my walks in the woods, and it did startle me for a minute. It is only a wooded vine, but it sure looked like a snake for a moment. Of course, I was inspired to capture its image and write this poem. it will become one of my animated stills.

The poem is a Fusion Sonnet.
This falls under the auspices of the Modern Sonnet genre. As such, it breaks several Sonnet rules. Most notably, it has 21 Lines rather than the typical 14. The Fusion comes from blending in 4 lines of Free Verse at lines 11 through 14. It has a strict Structure and Rhyme Scheme, but is more flexible in the area of Meter. Here are the complex rules:

14 line Poem followed by a Half Sonnet of 7 lines acting as a Coda or Tail to add additional stability to the poem. No particular Meter is followed, "Fusing" it with the modern Free Verse style.

First Fourteen Lines:
Same Rhyme in 1st,5th,9th & 10th Lines.
Same Rhyme in 2nd,3rd & 4th Lines.
Same Rhyme in 6th,7th & 8th lines.
Rhetorical questions in 9th & 10th lines.
Negative and pessimistic note in the first 10 lines.
Free Verse in 11th, 12th,13 & 14th Lines.
Line 15 repeats line 1.
Next Seven Lines:-The Half Sonnet acting as a Coda.
Same Rhyme in 16th and 17th lines.
Same Rhyme in 18th and 19th lines.
Line 19 and 20 repeats line 1 and 5. ( I modified them slightly here.)

This picture was taken by the author himself on July 11, 2017 at Battle Creek Park in Maplewood Minnesota.

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