To Dance in the Den of Snakes

I tried to dance in the den of snakes

I tried to dance in the den of snakes

I entered at my own will

Unsure of what I was searching for, in the den of snakes

Maybe I was a fool

Perhaps I was unwise

I took a pittance for my body

I let them take my head

How could I place so much in their hands for nothing

I forced myself into the thralldom of a zero sum sway

How could I place so much in their hands for nothing

I gorged myself in the venom

I allowed it to become my food

I am an addict

My body belongs to it

Held hostage by my own sense of self worth

Defeated, all I can do is hang my head

Under the capricious eyes of snakes

I dance my bones away

My moves are unceremonious

I struggle to keep time

Do I learn the serpents dance

Or do I keep myself intact

I have become one with the movements

I am in the dark

My body twisted by forces beyond my own

I gorged myself in the venom

I allowed it to become my food

I am an addict

My body belongs to it

I gave myself to the snakes

I gave my hands and my blood as a tithe

So I twist

So I bend

I dance

I dance

We all want to make something of ourselves

We want the warm lights of pride to shine upon

The ground we walk on

To be someone or something recognizable

We wish to be congruent with the dance

So we become fungible with instruments

But every tool becomes obsolete

Every dog has its day

From dawn to dusk we sway

Knee deep in mud we pray

We dance it away

I gorged myself in the venom

I allowed it to become my food

I am an addict

My body belongs to it