Silver Tongue – Alice Fanchiang
Be careful when you approach.
I am aglow with metaphor and adorned
in jewels the royal purple of prose.
Your gaze is dream-glazed, dazzled by
my gilded corona, everything
heightened and aglitter,
a sugar-rush in your veins.
Kiss me and I will shower you with wit,
have you dizzy with the turns in my phrase
as we dance, cheek to cheek
blooming spring roses,
our breath a-patter
to the tap-tapping of our feet.
Cut me and I will bleed words on your skin,
and the more you’re inked,
the more you’re bespelled by
the vivacity of my verse,
caught in your addiction to my diction
under an autumn crescent
drunkenly grinning so bright.
I’ll make you believe this madness is
magic, spilling from my honeyed lips-
that a song can be more than just music
that a heart can be more than just muscle
that a dance can be more than just
this perfect sliver of time.
I am conjurer and distiller –
a teller of tales so sublime
your tongue tingles to taste them.
You’ll drown in the slipstream of
my prettiest lines.
Be careful when you approach.
I’ll admit I’m a liar, but
tell me this poetry
doesn’t ring
true.
Alice is a Taiwanese-American poet whose work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Liminality, and Through the Gate. She loves magic, myth, and bright lipstick. She has a soft spot for tricksters and poets. You can find her online writing about geek fashion for Sartorial Geek, at Girl On The Roam (girlontheroam.wordpress.com), or on Twitter @kangaru, chatting about books and superheroes.