If I had a golden tongue
words would swoon
licking you into ecstasy
delighting with metallic pleasure.
Truth would be precious.

Place a ruby in my mouth and listen.
It speaks tales of languid passion.
The essence of bitten emerald fragments
trail from my lips
leaving the exquisite taste of freedom.
I laugh, swallowing sapphires
that shake you to the bone.

And from the depths of my soul
diamonds radiate more wisdom
than we could possibly comprehend
in many, many lifetimes.

White hot metal, cool hard compounds
co-existing in unified, molten perfection
spilling over as I open my mouth

Patricia Martin is an author, poet, and freelance writer who has been featured at numerous events and published in various periodicals and anthologies. The author of six nonfiction books and a poetry collection called In Venice I Could Sing, she also recorded a spoken word/music CD with composer/producer/musician Gus Mancini.