Mouth
Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 9:02 pm
Somebody once told me to shut my mouth –
I was just thinking.
Was it to stop things getting in, or things coming out?
That was when I was a child and people told you what to do.
I still think with my mouth open.
But they no longer tell me not to.
They simply ask why.
As if now I’m grown up I might have the answer.
Why.
Why’s your mouth open?
You catching flies?
To which I might answer,
“Noape.”
Or worse still, simply observe
“Your mouth’s open. Did you know?”
To which I might answer,
“Yeap.”
I can see
It still makes them uncomfortable
But they don’t know why.
Are they afraid of things getting in
Or things coming out?
People come and go
They look at my face and make calculations
Based upon it, regarding
The state of the universe.
You look sad.
You look cross!
You look vacant.
Perhaps I should wear a hat today.
What does it all mean?
These things, my mouth, my face –
They are not the universe
And yet they are open.
Black holes in a dusky sky
Perhaps they too are afraid
Of getting sucked right in
And never coming out
I was just thinking.
Was it to stop things getting in, or things coming out?
That was when I was a child and people told you what to do.
I still think with my mouth open.
But they no longer tell me not to.
They simply ask why.
As if now I’m grown up I might have the answer.
Why.
Why’s your mouth open?
You catching flies?
To which I might answer,
“Noape.”
Or worse still, simply observe
“Your mouth’s open. Did you know?”
To which I might answer,
“Yeap.”
I can see
It still makes them uncomfortable
But they don’t know why.
Are they afraid of things getting in
Or things coming out?
People come and go
They look at my face and make calculations
Based upon it, regarding
The state of the universe.
You look sad.
You look cross!
You look vacant.
Perhaps I should wear a hat today.
What does it all mean?
These things, my mouth, my face –
They are not the universe
And yet they are open.
Black holes in a dusky sky
Perhaps they too are afraid
Of getting sucked right in
And never coming out