A Poem - The Tongue

The child sticks out her tongue;
It is a tease, a taunt.
She does not know the power
That does this organ haunt.

To the tongue belongs the gift
To swallow and to taste.
We take our sustenance in joy
Their savor it does not waste.

To the tongue belongs the skill
Of singing and of speech.
It can encourage and inspire,
Scold, rebuke and teach.

To the tongue belongs power
To kill and make alive;
To crush a spirit viciously
Or, in mercy, to revive.

To the tongue belongs the truth
It also has the knack to lie;
As though water, fresh and salt,
Together could abide.

The tongue that parts the lips
In defiance or in play
Is potent for good and ill;
It curses and it prays.