Cracked Corners of the Mouth

The mouth is the place from which you go out into the world. This is where your words come out, your laughter, your no, your kiss. Here you take in nourishment and give back language. The mouth is boundary and gateway at once — the finest seam between inside and outside that your body has.

And now this seam is tearing. Not just anywhere, but exactly at the corners — where the mouth opens into a smile and draws back together again. It burns when you laugh. It hurts when you yawn. The smallest movements the mouth constantly makes become a problem. Angular cheilitis, Cheilitis angularis — medically, often a mixture of moist skin irritation, fungi, bacteria, and frequently a deficiency in B vitamins or iron. All of that is true. And all of that is only the surface of the story.