Revisionist Poetry – “What Sabine Taught Me” – Innocence, Courage, and my Sabine, v.4

At the reptile zoo,
my child stood before the pythons
as if she had come to meet
something ancient and beautiful.

Five snakes, coiled and watchful.
Five dark ribbons of muscle and scale.
I remember how my body tightened
before she ever moved.

Then the keeper lifted them
and laid them across her shoulders,
across her arms.

Sabine did not flinch.

She looked down at them with delight,
then laughed—
a clear, ringing laugh
that carried more courage than fear.

I had come expecting to protect her.
Instead, I was the one transformed.
She showed me how wonder can stand
where others would tremble;
how a child’s open heart
can make even danger seem less final.

Now when I think of her,
I think of brightness.
Not innocence alone,
but innocence joined to nerve—
a soul unafraid to meet the world
and still remain tender.

That is the gift she gave me:
not simply pride,
but instruction.