the joint or juncture between bones
in the skeleton, the skeleton,
a network of calcium phosphate crystals
that bulwark the softness while articulations
allow us to twist, run, dance, rise
against the dour pull of Earth’s gravity.
Articulation: the formation
of clear and distinct sounds
in speech. How I love those o’s
that roll and flow and resonate,
the a’s that stretch long as they trace
the curve of the waist, then pulse short
to tap the shoulder again and again,
sounds that meld into words,
words that wheel and flock into poems
that speak of the bones, the bones
those white shafts of meaning
that hold up the softness, those
hard forevers left after the burning.
The poem says clearly, distinctly
as it floats toward the ears of the fallen:
your bones, your bones
and the darkness between them, your bones
are built so that you
can rise.

Laurel Anderson

Definitions of articulation from lexico.com and merriam-webster.com

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