A Mouth

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A Mouth (3rd draft on 8/9/23)

Is there anything more beautiful
than a mouth- tongue, teeth, and lips?

Situated just beneath something 

just as wonderful, a nose.

Solomon praised his beloved's teeth

calling them sheep and each with its pair.

Utterances come from a mouth;

sounds and words shaped 

by the shape of a mouth.

And if the mouth is a kind of tree

and those sounds and words 

are a kind of fruit,

they come from the roots 

reaching down deep into that damp 

dark place that is the heart and mind-

a labyrinth of neurons, chemicals,

imagination, and soul,

where all of those things vibrate

their frequency, maybe, earthworms detect,

that eventually make their

way to the surface 

where they become

figs and flowers- ripe!

And if you go far enough down

and far enough back

you get to the source of neurons

and chemicals and electricity

and light and imagination and souls

a caring Creator: declaring 

and declaring and declaring-

Sometimes, someone will say,

She's got a mouth on her-

and what they mean is she talks like a sailor.

But if I said that about my wife 

what I would mean is

her mouth is a flower 

opening up in speech,

a blossom continually in blossom

declaring glorious things

like stars in the firmament

proclaiming the handiwork of Someone

without saying anything at all.

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A Mouth (2nd draft written on 7/22/23, first draft written in my notebook on 7/21/23)

Is there anything more beautiful
than a mouth-

tongue, teeth, and lips?

Solomon praised his beloved's teeth

calling them sheep and each with its pair.

Utterances come from a mouth

sounds and words shaped by the shape

of a mouth.

And if the mouth is a kind of tree

and those sounds and words 

are a kind of fruit,

they come from the roots reaching down

deep into that damp dark place

that is the heart and mind-

a labyrinth of neurons, chemicals,

imagination and soul,

where all of those things vibrate

like listening earthworms

that eventually make their

way to the surface where they become

figs and flowers.

And if you go far enough down

and far enough back

you get to the source of neurons

and chemicals and electricity

and light and imagination and souls

a caring Creator, declaring 

and declaring.

Sometimes, someone will say,

She's got a mouth on her-

and what they mean is she talks like a sailor.

If I said that about my wife what I would mean is

her mouth is a flower opening up in speech

that is like the firmament declaring glorious things

without saying anything at all.