“Welcome To Your First Corporate Job!”

It may seem foreign to those who stay at home
and practice their bliss behind closed doors,
but not to you.  The Anaconda Priesthood welcomes you
behind its curtain of jewels and whole cloth

to the church of fascination and deceit
and imminent if not certain death. 
You may stare at each of them (it’s
expected, of course) but not for long,

and do not lock eyes with any one of them
for any length of time, as that will be seen
as an offer of self-sacrifice.  You’re used to that
of course, thinking that time spent

in your bargain basement occult gatherings
has been preparation enough.  Not even close,
novice — those teenagers didn’t have a clue as to
the nature of true menace.  These snakes

mean business, longing for meat
as fresh as they can get it, and you’re
looking sweet and fat.  But that’s what you
came for, of course; here’s the good danger

that you’ve only sniffed at from afar.
There before you, in sharp suits
and big, big bloodlust, sit the serpents
you’ve always wanted to be: their eyes,

their supple lies, their mechanical
calm and unhinging jaws. 
You think you’re ready?  You might be
if you can cool your blood and head

and keep them cold.  Look at them,
fat and ripe and old.  You believe
in every hiss and slither, and your own eyes
are narrowing as you smile back.