Snake Sanctuary

Amidst the well cut lawns there stands

A flowering tower of green

Underneath's a hidden world that

Few have ever seen

It's a ramshackle collection

Of bottles, bricks, and tires

Crumpled tin, washing machines

And tangled lengths of wires

It all happened so gradually

That I don't understand

Exactly how the lawn ever

Got is out of hand

First it took a washer

Then it took a car

Then there come the point that you

leave things as they are

Well, it's not safe to stir this nest

Let's just simply let it be

'Cause the problems best avoided

Are the ones that we can't see

It was easy to surrender

Once it got too big for the mower

Now there's a snake sanctuary

Outside of the back door

Honey-suckles, goldenrod, and

Overflowing sight

A layer thickly covering over

Something that's not right

Pain and disappointment can

Teach us how to live

Till we become too paralyzed to give

Well, it's not safe to stir this nest

Let's just simply let it be

'Cause the problems best avoided

Are the ones that we can't see

It was easy to surrender

Once it got too big for the mower

Now there's a snake sanctuary

Outside of the back door

Try to walk around it

Try to watch your step

Try not to stand still too long

You're liable to get bit

There is a troubled coexistence

With the things we want to hid

That has a way of keeping folks outside

Well it'd just take a bush hog

Or a tank of gasoline

To fully bring to light

All these things left unseen

There'd be a thousand reptiles running

Making their escape

But sometimes to go forward

We've got to face the snakes