MOUTHFEEL
by gm
Adam Dickinson
……………Catenibacterium mitsuokai
……………Bacteroides
The tongue map
is wrong.
There are buds down
to the commonwealth.
What was the bliss
point of African blood
in the table sugars
of Europe?
Every year,
spinach produces
a sugar
in its leaves
comparable
to the world’s
annual output
of iron ore.
Without hurting
the taste, a young child
can stand
to keep a hand
in cold water
longer
with a sweet mouth.
The faster starch
converts to Christianity,
the quicker each outreach
over police radios.
O my sweet tooth,
my oatmeal raisin,
my poisoned tipped
candy apple cart.
Pleasure from food
is the air waving goodbye
in heat,
distorted
like an inherited empire.
In this way,
we are closest
to people who touch
what we eat.
Captives of loneliness
stare into icing.
I know enough
about the cherry on top
to lick around the sides.
NOTE
“Mouthfeel” responds to microbial changes caused by the Western diet. High sugar and high fat have resulted in gut microbiomes commonly dominated by the phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. This poem concerns sugar specifically. While its precise effect on the Western diet remains unclear, there is research that suggests the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes is influenced by sugar intake. In particular, the abundance of Catenibacterium mitsuokai and Bacteroides appear to be affected. I found these microbes inside my body after analysing my microbiome.