Poetry: “Embouchure” by Mickie Kennedy
“My tongue / glistens I think it’s crying every tastebud / a tear duct every tooth a tuning fork”
With the flute as a catalyst, Mickie Kennedy joins music and anatomy in this textured and striking poem.
Embouchure
I successfully debone the flute with a paring knife
so I can pick my teeth with its silvery spine
the flute-parts exposed in the black case
like bones in a serial killer’s mossy basement
in remembrance of reed and metal plate my tongue
glistens I think it’s crying every tastebud
a tear duct every tooth a tuning fork
self-conscious air slowly fills my sinuses
I blow as if cooling chowder as if the mouth
within the mouth might actually let go
so I can pick my teeth with its silvery spine
the flute-parts exposed in the black case
like bones in a serial killer’s mossy basement
in remembrance of reed and metal plate my tongue
glistens I think it’s crying every tastebud
a tear duct every tooth a tuning fork
self-conscious air slowly fills my sinuses
I blow as if cooling chowder as if the mouth
within the mouth might actually let go
Mickie Kennedy
Mickie Kennedy (he/him) is a gay writer who resides in Baltimore County, Maryland with his family and a shy cat that lives under his son's bed. A Pushcart Prize nominee, his work has appeared or is forthcoming in Threepenny Review, The Southern Review, Colorado Review, Gulf Coast, Black Warrior Review, Copper Nickel, and elsewhere. A finalist for the 2023 Pablo Neruda Prize, he earned an MFA from George Mason University. Follow him on Twitter/X @MickiePoet or his website mickiekennedy.com.
