“of ritual and habit i opened my mouth
to find the prisoners inside had made their way out.
a verbal vestige where nouns once played
sits empty and lonely and still on my face.
soon ended the clawing at my cheeks and gums,
as I searched in my molars for words but found none.
within me a well of speech had run dry,
so i tried to siphon language from people nearby.
but nothing they said could seem to console
the fact that my mouth was naught but a hole.”
