“Mouth, do what you can” *
to express these complexities
that swirl in currents too torrid to swim
too thick
too heavy to drink.

These writhing tides keep me awake at night –

soft silence
is but a siren’s call.

So please, Mouth
give it your all

or else, Hand,
you have permission
to drown them.

But Mouth!

I beg you, break

or else find a way to articulate
these brambled walls, 
that have grown so tall, 

I forget the shape of the berries they bear.

Yes, Mouth

please, shout to the stars!

Kiss this skin that is ours!

So sensitive 

it bruises where you touch.
You are the door to the night. 

You are the bridge to an inside

that even I

have not fully 

peered in.

Mouth –

Mouth!

Amongst this garden,

plant a kiss that flowers

Drunk,

with the brine

that swells inside: 

ebbing and flowing,

and ever growing.

With your power

at that cold, final hour, 

Mouth, 

I hope find a way to say it all at once.

Yes, Mouth!

Please choke through these vines

that survive and thrive 

though I’ve planted no seeds

from which they should grow.

With no clear way to the sun

they have convulsed into knots

inside 

the underside

of my ribs.

Where,

embraced like a trellis,
they shield a soul as tender
and delicate as

the Peach 

you bite, Mouth.

Bite! Mouth!

that space

ripped apart

into art

inside &

entwined      with

my skin

          behind my eyes

   Mouth!     

 got lost

Mouth

       on their way to the sun

they’ve
convulsed

Mouth

got lost

Mouth!?

do what you can.

Or else, Hand,

I give you permission

to drown them.

*Source unknown

Editor: Shannon Hensley