Of Diamonds and Toads (Revision)

[Achebe]

I swallowed the secret
that swims in my stomach
like a school of darting tadpoles. .....a surprisingly fresh simile
These words we speak when we must

not speak. ... a well used gap

So, we make up stories. Once .. and again

there was a child who sang diamonds
and another who croaked toads. ...I sense an allusion to a familiar children's story, but it could be a false memory. Either way, engaging.
We nod our heads, impatient for the moral,
as when we wait for dessert after dinner— ... another beautiful simile
sweet to cover the bitter, sweet
to make us forget.

Truth burns inside with a blue flame ... sulphur does burn with a blue flame
like sulfur on my fingertips. ... here's where I'm a little discomfited, because your fingertips are not inside you. 'Sulphur from' would be better, but still not quite
This is the secret I cannot tell:
there are not two children but one. ... the suspense has been built up well up to this point

You are long dead
and my tongue still roils
beneath this sediment. ... while I like the poetic quality of the last two lines, the ending is too open to any number of interpretations. The first explanation that suggests itself is 'resorbed twin', but that would hardly be a secret. In fact, the doc would know it more than you. The other explanation is murdered sibling, but because no motive is supplied, I'm unable to connect with the speaker. The third explanation is the speaker having suppressed one side of his personality as a child (a schizophrenic?), but all this thinking and guessing takes the fun out of these lines. The mystery should be at another level, not on the surface.

Thanks for the read