Disagreements will come
Since the start of the year I have been volunteering with Age Concern as a befriender to a wonderful elderly couple. I visit them once a week for a chat and we have a lot of fun!
They love to hear about my relationship life among other topics. This week, I was talking about relationships where one or both partners are disagreeable, argumentative, miserable, with poor and negative temperaments. My old lady added “Teeth and tongue will meet. But don’t let the teeth bite the tongue”. A Jamaican saying. I had never heard this expression before but I instantly loved it and asked her to repeat it about 5 times!! She laughed while I took out my notebook to write it down. She explained that “teeth and tongue will meet” signifying that arguments will arise. But don’t go overboard and bite each other’s heads off!
I thought this would be a good prompt for a poem.
I hope you enjoy it. Fight but fight fairly and then get along!
Teeth and Tongue
Teeth and tongue will meet
But don’t let the teeth bite the tongue.
Even when you kiss your teeth
You may have gone a step too far.
Gnarling, snarling, grimace and scowl
Beat your chest, rant, scream and howl
Red card for you, your attitude is foul
One of us must throw in the towel.
Unclench your teeth and smile
It’s not been seen for a while
It’s nice not to be so vile
When did kindness go out of style?
It’s very easy to rile
One gives an inch, one takes a mile
We record misdemeanours on file
Learn to get along, it will be worthwhile.