the protest of continuing

a painful void—

can’t tell if it’s the missing tooth
or the others
waiting their turn

the body learning absence
in real time

healing
from subtraction

✦

there is the one that’s gone—

clean absence
a precise subtraction

a socket
still warm with memory

✦

and then—

the others

not gone
not safe

just waiting
like names
on a quiet list

✦

the body doesn’t know
which pain to honor

the missing
or the scheduled

it holds both

a ghost
and a forecast

at the same time

✦

the now-hole
versus the next inevitables—

the body
caught between
absence
and anticipation

✦

one space
already surrendered

edges soft,
still learning
how to be nothing

✦

the others—

tagged
by knowing

not yet gone
but no longer innocent

✦

tongue returns
to the vacancy

checks

again
again

as if something
might still be there

✦

what was stings
and what will be aches

the body
caught mid-translation

✦

a crack—

not loud
but final

three weighted bends

and then

nothing

pressure dissolving
like it had somewhere else to be

✦

“that came out easy”—

too easy

like it wanted out
before I agreed

✦

the sting—

already fading

a bright, brief signal
that something
has been done

✦

the ache—

not here yet

just gathering

low
patient
inevitable

✦

sting says: it happened

ache says:
it’s still happening

✦

the water stone
against my left jawline—

cool argument
pressed to a warm refusal

✦

I hold it there
like a translator

hoping

this
and the pain

can find
a shared language

✦

ice says: slow down

pain says: remember

✦

the stone melts

time passing
through my hand
through my face

✦

and still—

tumultuous, raging seas

the body
turned ocean

currents crossing
without permission

✦

each pulse
another wave

each throb
a crest

lifting
then dropping

✦

the jaw—

a coastline
taking impact

again
again

✦

the weather system
of an entire world—

pressure mapped
across unseen terrain

heat rising
from places I can’t name

✦

ice against skin

like trying
to cool

a planet

✦

forecast:

lingering

indefinite

✦

and somewhere—

a question

is what will be
inevitable

where did it go wrong

and why

does sound
not see

✦

it arrives
without edges

fills the room

but never
names the shape

✦

so I sit

inside signal

inside pressure

inside a body
that knows
before it understands

✦

ever been
on the losing end
of a never ending battle—

not defeated

just
outlasted

✦

no clean loss

no clear win

just accumulation

✦

and still—

I don’t wanna go
just yet

✦

a few more necks
to hug

hands
to hold

and storms
to survive

✦

not finished
with the warmth

not finished
with the weight
of another life
leaning back

✦

so I stay

mouth sore
jaw aching
system in motion

✦

this is not victory

this is not surrender

✦

this is

the protest
of continuing

✦

a low, constant yes

spoken

through absence
through anticipation
through sting
through ache

✦

through the whole
weather system
of a living world

that has not
finished

with me

✦

and I have not
finished

with it