WHAT MEN DO WITH THEIR MOUTHS

for cr avery

cue the frenzied combo of molar and spit, his tongue

touches every chroma on its way to blue. he deftly

conjures washboards and rubber, even suburban

girls lie still for the twinging, the humid reckoning.

i want to coax last night’s corona from his chin, rub

my index finger along the surface of his laugh, pull

it open to check the throat’s slick road, something

illegal’s going on down there, the sweet keening

of ancient instruments, wonder boy opens beauteous

and words become both otherwise and everything.