7th Nerve

Show me your teeth. Can you lift your arms?

Try to smile. Close your eyes. Swallow.

Dive into the dark water. Lie still

while the machine passes around you

and a voice reaches you from another room

where music is playing.

Is it just that side?

Plosives soften to nothing. Language leaks

from the corners of my mouth. All night

my eye tries to see into the dark,

and there is a wave in my ears that breaks

and breaks. Show me

your teeth. Lift your arms.

Snarl like the weasel arcing

after the rabbit.

Beast in the blinding light. Burnt-tongue.

Fire upon the moors. Show me

your smile, your one bright eye, shed your skin

like a snake. Let that mask melt

off your wrong red mouth.

Come fast through the grass,

some old monster finding

its folklore. Show me

your teeth.