Dreaming of fences, birds, festival,
Discarded saints and elevated gypsies,
When my tongue slipped out of my mouth
And went straight to you.
It said things, glorious things, bold things,
And it did things, too;
Things that brought it home lolling, full of itself,
Trailing cats and canaries like confetti.
From that time on,
Though my tongue is back, my control over it is gone.
It whispers to me when I am
Slack-jawed, sleeping, dreaming of waterfalls, blooming arbors, suns burning in the faces of rivers...
The power of my tongue compels me,
And I go straight to you.
I say things angels envy;
I do things the damned haven't thought to try.
My tongue declares you devil's food,
And leaves us to our own devise.
_______
"I do things the damned haven't thought to try."
ReplyDeleteI love that!
Loose lips may sink ships, but tongues like this surely will float that boat instead. I love that whole first stanza--'elevated gypsies, indeed...'suns burning in the face of rivers' is also memorable and beautiful, and I'll stop there because I could say similar stuff about almost every line.
ReplyDeleteThe power of the tongue..."slipped out of my mouth and went straight to you..." (like it has a mind of its own). Well, apparently it does!
ReplyDelete"It said things, glorious things, bold things,
ReplyDeleteAnd it did things, too;
Things that brought it home lolling, full of itself,
Trailing cats and canaries like confetti."
What a gorgeous, powerful image. It makes naughty quite nice to contemplate...
Loved this, Shay. A slip of the tongue has never been so powerfully charged.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of all the words left unspoken and deeds undone, I can only applaud the proactive attitude of the speaker in this poem. Brava.
ReplyDeleteWowzers. "dreaming of waterfalls, blooming arbors, suns burning in the faces of rivers...." Sigh. Fantastic poetry!
ReplyDeleteyou ever hear the song slip of the tongue by faster pussycat? it was a late eighties hair band song...it popped in my head as i read this...oh that tongue gets so full of itself...smiles...hot write shay
ReplyDeleteThe best attributes Here, in my opinion? The pride, the power, both claimed. No shame. It's a proclamation.
ReplyDeleteLast stanza is so VERY strong! Follow that tongue.
ReplyDeleteI love this repeated line:
ReplyDelete"I was slack-jawed, sleeping,"
And, bam, this is ... well, it leaves me speechless:
"I say things angels envy;
I do things the damned haven't thought to try.
My tongue declares you devil's food,
And leaves us to our own devise."
~Shawna
(rosemarymint.wordpress.com)
hot, mama!
ReplyDelete{putting my tongue back in my mouth}
♥
One of the ones I like best. Damn, they just keep coming. You make me feel almost like a polygamist in that I can't choose which one I love best(smile).
ReplyDelete