The Tip Of My Tongue

Ariel Blaser
Dec 18, 2020
Light spots or flares on a blurred background, with pops of fuchsia, blue, green, and yellow
Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels

It’s on the tip of my tongue.
The word’s shape nearly fills my mouth.

It’s teasing me, leaving me
hushed, silent, agape.

My tongue is unsure of the almost-an-echo
pushing and pulling my lips.

They’re trying to follow consonants and vowels,
places the articulation might dance with my teeth.

I am, with increasing frustration,
feeling for the ever evasive.

The sounds’ vibration, their flow, friction, and aspiration
are as familiar as

the, uh…
a… an, um….

What the hell is it
that I’m trying to say?

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Ariel Blaser

A curious writer, linguist, and tutor living as a tumbleweed on the North American continent. Can’t seem to settle into one niche or genre.