Your name
is malleable and
easily tongued --
against my
cheek.

Is it
not the case that --
just before --
it was ether
in the cables above
this mov
-ing
train?

Vowels get dampened
and the rest
get
stuck
between my
teeth.

I can
roll your name into
a ball
with my tongue.

Press it to the roof
of my mouth --
lull it --
around and
feel it vibrate
with a hu-umm.

Do I dare part
my lips and let it
sublimate
once again?

Bring this moment
to a
close with
an
utterance?

How oft have I
spoken it,
with sheer neglect
& ignorance
of its

taste.