a family tree in wax 

we all buy wax lips
& compare flavors. yours taste like
cherry & mine taste like metal & 
maple syrup. dad won't tell us 
what flavor his are & he puts
them in his mouth right away
chewing the hunk of mouth.
thick & candy red.
everyone seems to have a pair today 
as we walk through a buzzing field
& i'm jealous because i like to be
original. i wanted to be the only ones
with these today. skunk cabbage 
chirp with august & the birds
are wearing wax lips & the fish
in the stream are wearing wax lips.
this has to be a joke. my father chews 
this whole time & so he doesn't talk 
which is why i think he's chewing
in the first place. my brother & i
look great with our lips & 
i think of boys i will kiss when 
i'm older & i wonder if he thinks of girls.
we stare straight into the sun just like
no one is supposed to. our mouths wilt. 
god with his pot of boiling wax 
works all night & all day to 
keep enough candles perched 
on the face of the sun, replacing them
as they flicker out. he lets his son
blow out the whole thing when night comes
& he uses the leftover wax for lips 
& bottles full of sugary juice. in fact,
just about everything i love is made of wax.
i kiss the back of my hand.
i eat a handful of grass. the birds 
kiss the branches they're perched on
& the trees themselves bloom with the same
lush lips. i ask them their flavors
& everyone talks at once except 
for our father who crouches down in the water
& lets the moss caress his features.
he wants to be cool & smooth. he wants to escape
the desire to melt & meanwhile his sons
are out in the heat losing their tongues
to the trill of insects & the needs 
of birds. i never intended to 
taste like this. what flavor? my brother
asks me again & now i have to say 
raspberry & yogurt & yes blood & he agrees
he tastes metal too & we wonder aloud
if our grandfather also tasted metal 
& if our parents taste metal
& if our cousins taste metal
& if our aunts taste metal.
we know we should take the lips off
but instead we walk into town
to parade them-- to show off
our mouths. everyone tells us 
we practically look like twins & we grin
on the inside because all we have 
are lips. at home when we finally take them off
the house is still full of the sound
of gnashing & chewing &
so we join in & put our whole mouths
inside out whole mouths 
& devour.