Flint tongue

When I was four

I nearly cut off my own tongue

Slipped and neatly pierced it with my teeth,

Hung on by two little bits.

If you don’t believe me, kiss me and you will feel the scar.

Was reminded of this recently when a friend told me that

According to the Aztec calendar, the year of my birth is called Tekpatl

Tekpatl, which means flint

Which is a metaphor for tongue, words, and especially words that are piercing –

Huh.

The stars then, devised me

A flint tongue,

A split and shattered tongue

A patched up, miracle tongue

A survivor tongue

A grateful tongue, aware of its nearly mute destiny

An urgent tongue

Made of words that are piercing

Made for words that are piercing

A biting tongue, a bitten tongue

A tongue made for lashings

And for pleasure.

The blades are sharpened

And ready,

The bloody mouth

She, ready to speak:

The Bible says that the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones

Many have fallen by the edge of the sword;

But not so many as have fallen by the tongue.

Though I don’t believe, I do agree

Because after all, the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body

In technical terms,

It is a muscular hydrostat, similar to the arms of an octopus,

And just as clingy

Able to suffocate, crush and grab

This, this, this – is a battling tongue

A honey tongue –

A tongue ready to renounce traitors and fools

Or to mediate peaceful endings

Tells the stories of those whose tongues have been cut out and silenced

A surrogate tongue

A tongue tied up in knots

Dumb and frozen

By the world’s weeping

A tongue that screams

A tongue that keens

A problem tongue for mothers, preachers and politicians,

Who gets told

Young lady hold your tongue

Huh, as if.

Though I will admit, at times

The cat’s got my tongue and

I become

A confused tongue

A border tongue

She – who speaks in two tongues

And forgets what she is saying

Forgets which one she is speaking

Forgets which is the common tongue for that day

Polite and smooth?

Or peppered and stewed?

Because I am a chameleon tongue that will

Unroll

Unfurl

Unhinge – you –

Tongue twisted

Tongue tied

Tongue chopped up and fried

Which is my favorite kind of taco by the way

But I digress and so

Allow me also to confess that I love boys with bold tongues

Fierce tongues, brave tongues,

Tongues not afraid to say

I want you

I’m sorry

I lied

Without you I would curl up and die

So curl that tongue then, because not everyone can

Open up and say ahhhh

Stick out your tongue

Because I love a teasing tongue

How does the tongue taste

Sweet?

Salty?

The love, the shit, it all just comes rolling off this tongue.

My loose tongue will remind you that with your tongue

You eat, you cheat,

You chew, you screw,

You swallow, you follow

You taste, you waste,

You talk, you balk

You zing and you sing –

My mother tongue is double edged and gleaming

Truly a flint tongue

With metaphors always ready at the tip of my –

Tongue – an acid tongue

A tongue made for kissing

Loving, pleading

A forked tongue

A noble tongue

The blades are sharpened

And ready

The bloody mouth

She, ready to speak.

Flint Tongue: Recent Books