Mouth Ulcers

A small hole in the mouth. White in the centre, red at the edge, barely larger than a lentil — and yet it suddenly governs your entire life. You feel it when you speak, when you eat, when you drink, even when you swallow. Every word bumps against it. Every bite reminds you of it. A mouth ulcer is not a serious illness in the medical sense — and yet it paralyses in its presence. It has an effect that far exceeds its size.

Medical practitioners speak of an irritated mucous membrane, of stress, of immune reactions, of small injuries that become inflamed. All of that is true. But it doesn't explain why right now. Why precisely in the mouth. Why in this spot, which sits exactly where the tongue meets the lips, where the word leaves the body.

The mouth is the place where language arises. And a mouth ulcer is a hole — right where speaking would be needed. That is not coincidence, but a clue.