prospective lover, beware.

teach me how to kiss without teeth.

the heart is a hungering mouth,
it serenades as surely as it salivates;
don't let your hand stray too near, my love,
for it has fangs for teeth, and it does not eat from plates.

the vocal chords of a siren in the deep sea;
steer your ship, take shelter in the maudlin 
for my song penetrates candle wax,
a prelude— my fangs now pierce your skin

the saliva is a slow-killing poison, so
why, why, why do you so confess?
i can bite, i can chew what i cannot digest,
but i never did learn how to kiss or caress.
my heart is not adoring lips you worship,
it is but a slobbering mouth;
leave the compass, abandon the north star
—and run headfirst towards the south.

heed my warning, my siren song,
before i swallow you by the mouthful;
but perhaps, this appendage will learn to beat, and the poison will meet its cure.

photo taken from pinterest.