“Just Add Water and Stir”
As women, we have 1000 throats.
Esophagus channels giving birth to truth-telling.
Larynx voice upon voice into echoed lull.
Silver tongued messenger carrying thunder from female Ancestors.
We swallow problems and spit up pearls.
We yodel songs of resistance.
This mouth-bridge of life.
This destination of bell and chime.
This canal of circumstance.
This reservoir of love notes.
This conduit of faith.
This basin of creativity.
This cistern of pain.
This chokepoint of men.
This bottleneck of forgiveness.
As remedy and saving grace we pour water down each throat daily
to remind us to stay wet, malleable, pliable
while remaining female limber.
There is always an intense rubbing of women in this sandpaper life.
As water flows past tightened teeth.
Pass pain layered throat into full bodied gut.
We press our belly buttons to remind us that we can birth ourselves.
To remind us, we can birth himselves too.