In the quietude between breaths,
My heart beats that of a taiko set
Steady, primal, calling me
Back to the body I forgot in me

My mind whispers secrets
In a dialect of a forgotten sect
While my pulse marks time
Like a metronome of bloody pyres

This is the arena of stillness
Where I spar for my new self
Where every heartbeat is a strike
Against the noise of the world

Listen
Beneath the chaos of breathing
There's this ancient rhythm
Chanting between
Heart and soul
Body and mind