Baby Girl with Two Mouths

Extremely rare condition causes baby girl to be born
with two mouths. I mean, who wouldn’t click
on that? Alice says. We nod. We always crave
a scandal – what was the most outrageous lie
you’ve ever told your lover?
I spilled pinot noir on the bed sheet
and said I was a virgin.
I called a gardener and pretended
to have a garden.
I kissed him
with my second mouth.
I swore I’d turn mountains inside out
until they’d become valleys flooded
with tenderness.

Right. I haven’t even said I liked
his mother when he asked.
No! You wouldn’t dare!
My honesty seems extremely rare:
two-mouthed women pluck
the shrapnel from their skin
years after divorce
while I’d rather
say your mother
deserves to be put in a zoo
with her own species
than smile through dinner after dinner
cutting undercooked salmon
into bloody pieces.

Denisa Vítová is a dual citizen of the Czech Republic and Switzerland but currently studies Creative Writing MA at the University of Nottingham. Her work has been published by The London Magazine, Ambit, Firewords, Acumen, The Moth, Poetry Society UK, and others. She now volunteers as a placement student at Jon McGregor’s literary journal The Letters Page.