Tyler Chadwick
Slip the curb-plate
onto your tongue.
Let the iron-tang
settle into your jaw,
into your voice’s
well-oiled hinge.
Let its heft replace
the burden of words.
Let it gag you to
stillness and peace.
Let it bend you to
penitence.
Let it teach you
to pray, Holy Father,
tether my tongue
to Thy holiness!
Mind the spikes
placed to punctuate
your supplication
with sacrifice.
Let them bleed you
of boldness and appetite.
Let them
canker your desire.
Let them, like seraphim,
sear your silence
with the tones
of God’s psaltery.
Tyler Chadwick, an award-winning poet, essayist, editor, and teacher, received his BS in English from Weber State University, his MA in English from National University, and his PhD in English and the Teaching of English from Idaho State. He has three books to his name: two anthologies, Fire in the Pasture: 21st Century Mormon Poets (Peculiar Pages, 2011) and Dove Song: Heavenly Mother in Mormon Poetry (Peculiar Pages, 2018), and a collection of poetry and essays, Field Notes on Language and Kinship (Mormon Artists Group, 2013). He lives in Ogden, Utah, with his wife, Jess, and their four daughters.