My mama named me Tolerance
But I named my tongue Silence
The fleshy epoxy that holds these teeth tight
Thick with regret
I wanted to tell you, you see
I was born in February
But Silence was born when his shadow consumed
Mine on the wall
I was always so sick with fear
But I was proud of Silence
Because she made them love me
She sighed and moaned and shattered with joy when
You forced the barrel into their crying mouths, your
Finger
Gripped tightly around the trigger
You said the darkness would save us from our sin
Then you peeled back my skin
Stripped my bones of their meat
You seasoned it with salt and wine and called it holy But you didn’t see the smoke pulsing in my spine
And throbbing in my skull
I wanted to tell you, you see
I bit silence of today
Choked and swallowed her down
Opened these lips to bare my teeth at the sun.
by Sky Katz
