1

sometime after lunch
a sneeze and then
my teeth come out

rain against
the platen of a typewriter

I believe I should take this occasion
you and I
talking like this
to state that after the accident
it was necessary
to replace
certain of my joints with
typewriter parts

when it rains
when I feel love
I am apt to
start clattering

at the end of the line
a bell sounds
it is almost always mistaken
for sincerity

without teeth
my enunciation is bad and
I am unable to correct this
impression

2

we call our first child
Qwerty
her thin bones
paper-thin skin
we name her in the river

waist deep
I hold her
above the water
like a small Olivetti

we type her name in the rain
I say something
unintelligible

a little bell sounds
the three of us weep

3

we have collected teeth
playthings for little Qwerty

I give my eyeteeth to her
a first birthday present

in her third year
we give molars
at the back of her dark little mouth
perfect white
typewriter keys

4

when I remain
still
I am sincere

5

you and I
reading together
Qwerty leans out the window
falls

the clattering of my arms
catching her
the sound of a bell

I promise myself to
avoid margins

6

when she is five
Qwerty gives back my teeth
one by one

I am unable to pronounce
her name
she lifts her hands
her thumbs joined
her fingers open
feathers

typewriter, she says
typewriter