by Elham Abdel Jalil

A tongue, two hands, a nose
3 of the most important parts
of any individual’s body

The tongue, which tastes
the sweet delicacies every day
From the constant pierogies in the school cafeteria
to the once-in-a-lifetime breakfast for lunch
From rich, expensive filet mignon
to sweet, delicious birthday cakes
The tongue, which speaks
the words & thoughts that
go on in our minds
From scary, anxiety-provoking class participation & speeches
to funny, hilarious stories
From harsh insults
to sweet, romantic compliments
And everything in between

The hands, which hug
those we love
Which allow us to perform
any task we could imagine
From writing boring, monotonous essays
to cooking yummy things the tongue enjoys
From putting on stylish outfits
to turning the pages
Of Harry Potter
From playing lacrosse, field hockey,
basketball, softball,
golf, tennis
To filming marvelous concerts
of Conan Gray,
Harry Styles,
Taylor Swift

Finally, the nose
Which smells the delicious sweets
the hands cook
And sends messages to the tongue,
begging it to taste the yummy food
The nose which allows
us to breathe 
To inhale
and exhale
To smell the rotten eggs
in the old refrigerator
And the delectable cinnamon
in the apple pie grandma made
To sniff when we’re sad
and run when we’re sick
To hyperventilate when we’re anxious
as well as when we’re excited

A tongue, 2 hands, a nose
3 of the most important parts
of any individual’s body

I wrote this poem in class when our editors put a clay model of a mouth and tongue, two plastic hands, and a clown nose on the table. We were told to write something about them, and this is what I came up with.