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hasty words

spit or swallow you

are poison
burning on my tongue
threatening to scorch me
all the way down

are snakes of flame
licking every corner of my open mouth

are greedy for destruction.

the fire's easier to quell
inside,
where other tongues don't
sweep the conflagration higher,
where burning words might sting,
but only me
and only for an instant--
so i bite my mouth

shut, and swallow you.