époque press

pronounced: /epƏk/

definition: /time/era/period

There is something

that my tongue cannot reach

A morsel stuck

between two teeth so I stretch and I prod

I know the satisfaction will be so sweet but

it is stuck

I think it’s there at the

corner of your mouth too

I would lean in and speak the words

to release it

But maybe you are saving it for later

I would lean in and speak the words

So I stretch and I prod and I cannot get to it I

cannot draw it out I try to

sweettalk the feeling

sweettooth the idea but maybe

Maybe I would lean in and what if it is not for later

What if you don’t know the words

What if you don’t know it’s there

Is a polishing only cosmetic

aesthetic

prosthetic

What is the cost of

I retch and I forget

I sweettalk sweettooth my way out of what I was certain

was a stain at the edge of your smile

With a three-pronged fork

my hand extends out

I would lean in and speak

Suddenly wiping a napkin over where I thought

could have sworn

it was

and you look away

and and the words will not come

I fish around in my mouth

testing my jaw

clenching the syllables

I could taste barely a moment ago

The tip of the tongue is sweetness

sweettooth sweettalk at the back there is only bitterness of what

caught in my throat

I cough and I retch and I

say something else

Bitterness of the release

Maybe I would lean in

They scream

Mouths opening too wide

I can only gather scraps

My ideas too vast for my muscles to bear

All of my inside twists

churns

Too hungry to tempt only the bits

in my teeth

Too hungry to tempt only the bits

in my teeth

Natasha Jane Kennedy, PhD researcher in how multilingual texts reveal writers’ emotional attachment to the languages they speak. Natasha is a multilingual writer who grew up in England and France and consistently explores multilingualism and expression in her writing and academic work. ORCHESTR A.E, a bilingual poetry suite is her debut poetry collection published in Snow Lit Review 12.

Of the poem featured here, Natasha says:

‘I believe that part of the way individuals experience language is through the senses, and this poem taps into language as something we feel in our mouths. I wanted to go for a visceral experience of trying to say something but not quite managing, and it feeling like something stuck in the teeth, or caught in the throat. I chose to represent the ideas of ineffability and projection in this poem as almost erotic but bordering poisonous as the poem goes on.’

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