The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Limón, Ada. “Cyrus & the Snakes." The Hurting Kind (Milkweed Editions, 2022).

Note that all parenthetical citations refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.

“Cyrus & the Snakes," a poem by Ada Limón originally published in her 2022 collection The Hurting Kind, is composed of 18 couplets in which the second line in each couplet is indented. Limón has stated in interviews that she wished to write about her brother's love for snakes, and this poem praises his respectful relationship with "a wild thing" (33). Personal family history intersects with wider ecological concerns in this poem. Ultimately, the speaker suggests that humans can have sustainable relationships with other beings in nature.

In the poem, the speaker’s brother encounters a snake, prompting the speaker to examine the implications of masculine care. The brother desires to hold the snake just for a moment before returning it safely to its home. This contrasts with the historical destruction underlying men's relationship with nature.