Headless but not heartless.
Where do you keep your teeth?
Hold them in the breath between breaths,
In the home that is no longer.
And there let them gnaw
Until the shell that is left
Rings a chord so transparent
It barely makes a sound.
Scatter them in the tall grass
Green and alive with spring
Find them again in autumn
Bring their fruits to reap.
Ball them up in your fists
And there let them sink
To bite the palm of all
The hands who try to hold you.
Let every man learn
Exactly what beast you are.
Leave them in your neighbor’s yard
The one with whom you never speak.
Let them chew down walls and fences
And onto pavement creep.
Lock them in that darkest cave
The pit you call a heart.
Leave them at your parents’ graves
Filled with bone and far apart.
Burn them with filthy locks
Of hair from all your lovers
Strand them in the empty space
Between you and what you are.
Bury them in your children’s names
And when they suckle:
Teach them how to bite.
We devour our parents.
We devour our children.
But where do we keep our teeth?
Bardo 