A Poem for Scorpion Pose

"I absolve myself for all the times I have turned my venomous tail against myself and towards anyone I have ever loved." - from Scorpion Pose by Corie Feiner

The Process

When a pose is named after an animal I find the poems can come — not more easily — but with more material to work with. Like when a sculptor sees the art form already taking shape in a piece of stone.

Except for one thing, I cannot yet… yet…

do scorpion pose.

I can practice it…

as I have many mornings trusting that one day my body will understand how to hold this sacred shape,

but until then I am somewhere in between.

One of the many gifts that yoga has given me is permission to play again and to see what I would have once perceived as failures as opportunities and progress.

When the idea first came to me to write yoga poems, I limited myself to poses I could “do.” When I reached the limit I set for myself, there was a whole horizon of poems that kept calling me.

I would say, This is it.

But they would sing, Keep going! Keep saying yes!

The wise words of the poet Yusef Komunyakaa came to mind, “...it’s not what we know, it’s what we can risk discovering.”

When I presented my stuck-ness to my dear friend, yoga instructor and editor of every single one of these poems, Kristin Voit, she told me to go for it. Her faith in me was like fuel and despite my self-doubt, I kept going.

What can you say yes to today?

“Poetry helps me understand who I am. It helps me understand the world around me. But above all, what poetry has taught me is the fact that I need to embrace mystery in order to be completely human.” — Yusef Komunyakaa

When I set out to write Scorpion Pose, I started not with the movement, but with but with a rush of words that rung so true for me that I immediately wrote them down.

“I have been known to sting….”

Then that was it.

Twelve drafts later, and after hours of research about scorpions, the symbolism of scorpions in dreams and apparitions, and scorpion pose itself, I wrote what felt like it was complete.

This poem is a prayer and pledge for self-empathy, self-trust, self-control, self-love and the recognition of the inner strength that lives within us all.

If you practice scorpion pose, I encourage you to think of this poem as you move yourself into… or near into… this shape, so that in addition to improving your balance and building strength, you can embody your ability to transform your life. Here is the poem —

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Scorpion Pose

By Corie Feiner


I have been known to sting— 
my fearful tongue lashing out with mean 
words that can cause my victims’ skin to numb 
and swell, their hearts to flutter and break. 

I want to trust myself enough to know
that I don’t have to consume everything I capture, 
that I am trustworthy enough to hold 
my entire body up with my forearms, 
that I can lift my legs and bend my knees 
towards my head as each vertebrae sings, 	
Forgive, forgive, forgive. 

I hold myself in scorpion – or near scorpion—
my muscles stretching further than they have ever
stretched and I become ultraviolet, 
I become the mating dance that can conjure magic 
in the loins of any man. 

I absolve myself for all the times I have turned 
my venomous tail against myself 
and towards anyone I have ever loved. 

I tell you this. I am older than all of time
and no matter what history has written down, 
I have adapted and evolved and survived 
anything that has come my way. 



Sanskrit Name: Vrischikasana

Every spirit animal has its motto. For the Scorpion, it’s “I create my own reality.”

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Upcoming Workshops

• [Live] Yogic Poetry Experience in Bucks County, PA January 26, 2024 at 6 pm.

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