THE PYTHON

If you submit

to it

suffering

will hypnotize you

like a python,

wrap you

in tightening coils,

suffocate you,

swallow you whole.

Don’t let it.

Untether yourself

with kindness,

with compassion.

Relax what’s taut.

Breathe

into breath.

Let the animal

you are

wake to the softness

of the body,

to its own

flesh and sinew.