a mouth that could hold a sky
full of rain/ like that of a child
with his head cocked back/ one slacked
in pain/ that cannot speak its shames
aloud/ only howl/ mouth
prised open/ a-raw-egg-poured-down-its-throat
this’ll make you grow into a man mouth/
yolked & choked/ dried-vomit-in-its-corners mouth
that grins to quell the gag/ smacked mouth lapidified
to set jaw/ mouth that fellates
the neck of the raw milk’s bottle/ pops
the can’s top with its teeth/ mouth
that bites its cheek till it sores/ poor mouth/
mouth pursed to whistle/ that with its tongue
seeks the mouths it kisses for what
it cannot name/ mouth caught in a lie/
with a lie that catches
in the dark/ at the back/ a take
that back mouth/ ver-mouth &
mouthfeel/ mouth with a reek/ mouth-
wash/ teeth sharp & white as a wolf’s/ a mouth-
full/ loud mouth/ mouth to command
a room/ mouth that goes BOOM!/ could swallow
its own young/ its own words/ mouth
with a tied-up tongue/ one that tears the flesh
from the bone/ declares not done/ mouth
permanently widened by grief’s invisible vise/
a cave/ crevasse/ into which you could fall &
never be heard from again/ a don’t tell me
I’ve had enough mouth/ badmouth breathing through the mouth/
that at the bar/ when asked/ answers I have no children/
mouth with no one to drive it home/ mouth
as big as the O in no/ in alone/ as big
as the O in disown/ O/ O/ O/ my father’s mouth