"how we come to speak"- devorah major

the 1st word was
incomplete

the next
though clearer

lacked balance

and was followed
by the 3rd

who gave rise to
us

born of clay
water
fiber
drum

but before a generation
passed we children
of the 3rd word
knew how to take
this gift called language
contort it crimson
and sew it to our teeth

how me mangle
this tongue that needs
constant translation
ongoing comprehension
reiteration
clarification
purification
elaboration
release

we require it to be
a constantly changing chameleon
a hypnotist, a con man, a cheat, a liar

with words we manufacture demons
who devour souls and erase fond memories
look at how we honor speech
that can make us hate
that can cause us to deny
our mothers
our fathers
our love ones
ourselves

we have articulated
a deadly weapon
that subvert knowledge
and betrays faith

and how now do we
scrape the slime from between our teeth
and rinse out the sourness of decay

how now do we
put our tongues back
in our mouths

again learn to listen
with more than just our ears

at once try to speak
with more than our toungues