If the ocean had a mouth
by Marie-Elizabeth Mali
I'd lean close, my ear
to her whisper and roar,
her tongue scattered
with stars.
She'd belt her brassy voice
over the waves' backbeat.
No one sings better than her.
Would she ever bite
the inside of her cheek?
Would she yell at the moon
to quit tugging at her hem,
or would she whistle, drop
her blue dress and shimmy
through space to cleave
to that shimmer?
What did she mean to say
that morning she spit out
the emaciated whale
wearing a net for a corset?
All this emptying
on the sand. Eyeless
shrimp. Oiled pelicans.
Within her jaws the coral forests,
glittering fish, waves like teeth,
her hungry mortal brine.
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