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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Lifeboat” Down in the Dirt, v190 (the 12/21 Issue) Order the paperback book:

Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology Stardust in Hand the Down in the Dirt Sept.-Dec. 2021 issues collection book		get the 422 page Sept.-Dec. 2021 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

A Tongue

Susie Gharib

It was his silence when he felt piqued and hurt
and his eyes emitted the melancholy of the world,
and his lips had shunned the beautiful verbiage they usually held,
that made my tongue retreat like an errant dog.

In his presence I always blurted out the wrong words,
words that crawl like snakes to nest inside one’s head,
breeding connotations that are still unheard-of.

This tiny piece of flesh is more powerful than a nuclear bomb.
It can wipe out nations with a single announcement of wars.
It has claimed my youth, my middle-age, my tottering now.

In the End of Days. a priest had cut his tongue
to prevent inquisitors from extracting his verbal gold,
for torture methods can claim what man withholds.

It is too late to do anything with my own.

Note: End of Days (1999), a film.

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