communion

say the tongue / is a vessel / to give & receive. say the tongue / is inheritance /
is title / is debt all / at once. say gia đình / say bố mẹ. know / an open mouth
is / nothing / more than mirage. that the noise of crickets / trilling / in the moor
/ is only me / trying to remember / my own tongue / a little longer / & failing.
there’s a harbor / not far away. some nights / I am the widow / on the roofwalk
waiting / for my own return / from sea. other nights / I am the sea / itself
gutting / all / in its wake. come daybreak the sky / so thin / it is sharp. the air
stacks like firewood / like hours, & only time separates / fire & flight. say may
mắn / say số phận. say you’ll never / leave / again. look: there is water / in
the collection bin though / it hasn’t rained / for weeks / & the plastic ice cream
cartons / I ate from as a kid / are now flower pots: easter lilies / nested in ditch
weeds. so, let / nothing / go to waste. tell me: / can a tongue / be salvaged too?