Serpent.

It begins with consumption.
You gulp and within you
a snake begins to move that
you don’t remember swallowing
yet you trust it with all you hold inside.

A flicking tongue
to sense your insanity
your built up debris
your humanity.

This is a cleansing of organs
an investigation of cells
what lies trapped
has been reborn
year after year
you thought you buried it
but it continues to reappear.

And how you’ve never been able
to escape
your downfalls
or your safety nets.
Now she pulls them from
under you
as you let her work her way
through al those crevices
you thought no one could see.
But she’ll find them
with her eyes closed
she senses the heat
of trapped memories.

Like how you could
never hold a woman
in all of her composition
of heart
mind
and soul.
She’s only been an object
of your infatuation
now she dances
in front of you
wearing a Dia De Los Muertos mask
in celebration
of your liberation
and her emancipation.

All the while the serpent journeys
through you.
You’ve become accustomed
to its company
fighting
its expulsion
it needs air
but you keep swallowing it down
this is suffocation
as you battle
transformation.

Then finally
release
followed by request,
“Show me my Buddha nature.”
You cave inside of
yourself
shrinking
becoming
a lotus flower.
Your petals are white
observers see only your magnificence
but in all of your magnificence
you cower.

Shrinking further
you become a petal
and you work your way
inside
but the air is thin here
in an ever-shrinking space
where nothing
can hide.

And you scream,
“NOW THIS IS SUFFOCATION!”
You take a deep breath in
surrender your Buddha nature
this
this is transformation.