It’s easy to get confused with so much barnacle language stuck to the walls. They started in my mind and found their way into my mouth. They like the shallow waters and the erosive saliva. They suction around my tongue and got good at whipping words with quick wit. I could command an ocean of slurs and words with these creatures until the listerine storm arrived and wiped them down the drain. That was decades ago. I never wanted to but I guess it was my destiny. It stung, the green/blue chemicals of freshness. Maybe they were refreshed in someone else’s sink. I still think about my old-tongue for time to time and wonder it misses me.