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it starts with the failure of speech _ a swelling in the throat _ a pushing upwards _ a suffocating wave _ no voice _ no breath _ fear and panic _ the jaw unhinged _ teeth laid flat, un-cutting _ immobilised tongue _ lips pulled tight _ stretched to splitting _ hard as wire _ eyes made slits _ cheeks made stone _ wet with straining tears _ expulsion, exhalation of flesh _ the birth _ the release _ followed by the pushing scream _ the final unthinkable act _ teeth biting down on the cord _ severing the self from the self _ your re-mobilised tongue _ clothed in blood _ pushing the remnant stump to the brink of your throat _ to be swallowed, healed _ speech returns, in a sighing, murmuring _ words, language, song _ the need to express _ no witnesses.