TOP
Header PostFeaturedImage 12

Annihilation by Ross White

Annihilation
Ross White

Break my tooth on my tongue
if I speak. Bust wide open
my lips as they form the deadly
syllable. Batter my palate to pulp.
So much seething I could shatter
all sound if I gave voice to it.
I’ve felt this way 759 days
& have said nothing.
I’ve drawn lines in sand
with sticks & thought this,
inviolable, & all were crossed
& I tried cussing & curses fattened
in my throat & now they’re thick,
so thick maybe no air will pass
through this larynx & this aching
jaw may not sink to let out
the sound, anyhow, if it comes.
Crack apart my canines if I erupt,
grind the tongue to jam.
Because once the mouth obeys
what it’s so long swallowed,
once this blubbering turns to wail,
I’ll be siren, part of the choir
singing smash this, set this alight,
so loudly every eardrum bursts.

KEEP READING
32 Poems

SHARED WITH GRATITUDE

This poem appeared in 32 Poems, No. 46, Winter 2026.

ABOUT ROSS WHITE

Ross White is the author of Charm Offensive, winner of the Sexton Prize for Poetry, and three chapbooks, Valley of WantHow We Came Upon the Colony, and The Polite Society. He is the director of Bull City Press, an independent publisher of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, where he hosts The Chapbook, a podcast devoted to chapbooks. He teaches creative writing, podcasting, publishing, and grammar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His poems have appeared or are… (more)

Read more poems by Ross White • Find books by this poet on AmazonBookshop • Follow on TwitterBlueskyWebsiteOr view my library

ENDNOTES

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from Read A Little Poetry

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading