Taste That Word

For Brandy Richmond

Pluck a word from a sentence
And hold it in your mouth,

a few meta-seconds.

Let it roll over your tongue

            Like a careful, autumn brushstroke.
Then feel its texture –

The crunchiness, mushiness, softness.

Or is it grainy? Slippery?

Feel its weight, and with it

Its temperature –
            Cold, tropical, boiling?
Then bite it. Hard.

How does it taste?
Sweet-and-sour? Salty?

Chew on it, emulsify –
Till the letters
Crackle into sounds, softened
With bubbles of spit.

And then swallow it, like you would

A pill –
With a drop of mineral water.