I.
in the valley of the tongues
what houses but bumps

what field but the space between
whispers, enameled flowers

II.
that country she knows and yearns

and must return where coal sky
churns and snows diamond dust

III.
meanwhile mouth a chamber
tooth walls and skin roof

behold yawp light
air horn cry then
chamber collapse

house of words become home
sometime to gnashing fury of morsel motion
later walls scrubbed clean of debris

beware: somewhere coverings
may muzzle taboo puffs of air

IV.
if you seek weapon simply speak
and slay me with your glottal rock

 

John Boucher is a member of the inaugural cohort of the MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics at the University of Washington – Bothell. His background includes work in film theory and production. He is the editor of the independent feature film “Heart Breaks Open;” the founding member of the Seattle-based writing collective Les Sardines, which publishes bi-annually a literary journal called “Les Sar’zine;” and the co-creator of “The IIWII Project,” where he co-creates and posts daily extemporized mash-ups of text and images, with artist Aaron Morgan.