If your laughter rises from a belly
overflowing with sweetness,
all your mouth covered in teeth,
do you sigh with a heart covered in love,
or laugh that smile in your chest
or does that joy embody
a scale we must hum,
struck tuning forks
lost in pure pitch of feeling
or should I say simply
there is a heart in my mouth
that must speak
& please listen
with your head
covered in ears
***Many thanks to duet partner and friend Noel Ihebuzor for both using the two Igbo sayings in conversation that triggered this poem (head covered in ears and mouth covered with teeth), and also for tweaking the poem with me! Reading this, all my mouth is covered in teeth!
Susan Daniels Poetry 
I like the way you worked the sayings into this poem. Like you told me a few days ago, you feel like your poetic voice is giving voice to others (often those who are ignored, abused and disadvantaged) and that comes through again (and beautifully) here.
Jeremy, thank you! Had a lot of fun with this one. The sayings I have heard (and not many of them, at that) seem to be full of such wonderful imagery and wit–how could they not inspire poetry? 🙂
I like “there is a heart in my mouth that must speak” what an image that conjures up of a lovely person…(who wrote this)
…me
no I meant (you are the lovely person who wrote this) bad writing on my part…
LOL! Thanks, Audra…
Heart in mouth … what an imagination !!!
Thank you 🙂
You can speak with your heart in your mouth, or write with it in your fingers–it is a very mobile thing 🙂
***Covering his mouth and blushing widely!
Nice one, Susan. I hereby confer an igbo chieftaincy title “Ada di na mba” on you. (our daughter on foreign soil)
Thank you! As long as I do not have to call you “Uncle” Noel, I humbly accept 🙂
chieftaincy title remains but uncle Noel goes!
What is the Igbo equivalent of telling someone they ROCK–because you do–thanks for the help with this!
Ga-ga na ogwu!
love this and also the new theme and especially the header pics you’ve chosen
Thank you, Kyle! I am so in love with street art I can’t decide which header I like best, so loaded up a bunch of pics and am changing them daily, until I make up my mind which says me best…
has to be one with pencils in, i reckon
You know, there are 2 of those–that and the yarn bomb thing that looks like a tree from Dr. Seuss–those are my favs right now…You are SO reading my mind!
*pondering*
So hard, my head of rocks. 🙂
Good one, Susan.
your head is SO not full of rocks, Nelle
beautiful words from your beautiful heart in your mouth full of teeth for our head covered in ears! wow.
Thank you–wow–what an image-filled language, no?
absolutely. and musical and colorful and full of life.
you certainly don’t need another comment but I had to applaud you in the hidden smiles the very body can feel ! Wonderful !
🙂 thanks, Deb! I always welcome comments!
really enjoyed this lovin the imagery
Thank you–it was a “buttercup of death” moment for me–just took me longer to figure out a way to do those phrases proud…
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