Phrenology

The boy kneels down,
falling, as your fingers brace
at the backs of his two front teeth.
            For weeks, he will bow over the toilet,
coughing up fragments of your nails,
            dislodging them like splinters
from the sponge of his flesh.
Tile and porcelain blossom pink,
stained by his touch.
You are reading the roof of his mouth
because it is, to you, just more of the skull.
Though it is hidden under teeth and tongue and bite
Open wide
he is still, no match for you,
and his jaw is blessed in the grip of your palm.
Tell us of the malignancies you find.
After everything that he’s said,
there’ll surely be a mouth full of sin.
Find the bread tucked away in his cheeks
and the names fastened on his lips.
When he thrashes and he bleeds,
Hold still
find the wine he did not swallow.
            When it dries like tea leaves on your cuticles,
Tell us if it bodes his salvation.
When he runs - he will try to run -
Please
reach between his ribs,
grip his spine like a hilt, like a knighting sword,
            and pull.
When he is guillotined from the inside out,
            baptized and bent in prayer,
remember that you are a saint, you are holy,
            this is panacea in the house of god,
Medicine in the garden of Eden,
            My doctor,
My Lord,
Amen.

Allison Reich is an Ohio based poet, author, and student. Her poetry and fiction have all the tact and craft of modern contemporary literature and all the emotional intensity of a teenage rom-com. She prides herself on her vivid and compelling style, citing Ocean Vuong and Carmen Maria Machado as her main influences.