the roof of the mouth is anxious

(1997)

Audio installation for Staging Like Spaces. Curated by Jen Papararo and Kim Simon for ArtLab, University of Western Ontario.

Text published in exhibition brochure.

Parts of the text resurfaced in Escape Songs, CD by Veda Hille and Christof Migone (squint 00H, 2004).

rooftext

i am endangered.
i am shut.
i am shut up.
i am inanimate.
i will never open my mouth wide again.
i’ve spilled all over and inside.

instructions on how to peel a narrow escape.
i open the door slightly for a peek.
for a second that seems forever.
and i shut it up again.

i burrow into the cavity of my mouth.
i am louder than words.