A Woman Is Swallowed by a Snake in Taiwan

I am a gift you don’t know how to open.

Best leave me alone, you’ll find yourself inside.

I am the snake in every woman,

The woman in every snake.

Walk carefully. Avoid dark alleys,

red light districts, no-tell motels.

I leave behind red slippers,

a hint of jasmine,

an opium dream.

Of course, you’ll seek me out.

I am a myth that winds round your body,

a tail that grows larger with every telling.

I’m the place you’ve always longed

to visit, the place you’ve never been.

published in Prolific Pulse