Jane Hirshfield: "A Day Comes"

A day comes
when the mouth grows tired
of saying “I.”

Yet it is occupied
still by a self which must speak.
Which still desires, is curious.
Which believes it has also a right.

What to do?

The tongue consults with the teeth
it knows will survive
both mouth and self,

which grin—it is their natural pose—
and say nothing.

"A Day Comes" by Jane Hirshfield. Text as published in After: Poems (HarperCollins, 2006).  

Art credit: "Joyful Buddha II," image by Nine Dragons Photography.