The pizza was too hot for the hunger

The pizza was too hot for the hunger

and the cheese took the skin right off.

I’m not getting any younger

and the roof of my mouth is soft.

I keep running the tip of my tongue

over the rough, peeling patch.

It’s a metallic bell that is rung

every time the teeth make a catch.

There’s a small cut near the front

where the salt finds a way to sting.

It’s the body being honest and blunt

about every stupid thing.