Liz Atkin
Tongues
Lambs tongues are taken, severed
from their cleft bleat holes
and washed to remove extraneous
mucous, matter and slime,
then packed in mute dozens
soaked in brine and cured,
blanched and canned,
to represent a delicacy for some.
And as these gourmands eat,
as their own wagging muscle
in its saliva pool tastes then bites
into a dumb relative, moving
it around that eager orifice
before pushing it back and down
then licks the lips and welcomes more,
let’s urge them on to overeat,
to finish the lot and winewash it down
then slip into a comatose state,
so that their tongue, a large
fat and furred malodorous organ
can fall back too, curling up
on itself to block the airway,
puffing the lid on a final meal.
Page(s) 23
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