A Tongue in the Mouth of the Dying

My Mother Will Take a Lover

MY MOTHER WILL TAKE A LOVER and devour him: hair, feet, his toothy and crooked mouth. By doing this, she will devour herself. Her hair will soften. Her shoulders will thin. When she tries to speak, she will open her mouth and the taste of him and her together will be on her tongue like a blanket of strawberries long after summer has passed. Though she will be invisible, she will be content to have tasted love like this. Though he will be invisible, he will have given his life for her. 56 ...