HOMO ELASTICUS
I tell you it is inside,
a substance no one has yet identified
or described
as something natural to flesh,
a glutinous secretion in the cells
that can harden and melt.
Milky, it clings to the gums
with a stickiness that fastens on the tongue
to be dumb,
or else stretches and winds a band
around the heart so tight, it has to snap
or loosen, springing back.
Fluid, it waxes the bones