Wrist Deep

Pontificate; matriculate; manacle; dribble; particle;
alone, they were fodder for our meticulous chewing,
garbled past our gums, stuck between our teeth
like pieces of spice—friends pointing them out to us
from across the table—no, on the other side,
up a little, yup, got it. Picked loose from incisors
they fell out among the leavings on our plates,
got mixed up in the mess and became something else;

demure; alluring; endearing; elusive; intrusive;
sounds from a voice more empty than empty glasses
like emptiness hugging itself, because never have we been
so lonely as when we had no words. Until we prodded them,
strung them together like spaghetti on the tines of our tongues,
swallowed once again the very thing we spat and began to feel full.