The speaker keeps saying "these I kiss," and what follows is a long list of mouths at their least flattering: cracked, chapped, greying lips, lying tongues, drooling chins, mouths full of salad and half-chewed meat. Even a mouth that preys on the weak and declares loyalties it may not keep is included. The poem seems to say that real desire doesn't pick the pretty version. It takes the whole mouth, flaws and cruelty and mess.
Midway through, the kiss turns physical and feverish. Short, clipped lines pile up opposites like cold to heat and numb to fire, and the verbs grow violent: gnashing, gritting, smiting, growling. Passion here feels close to a fight. Then the mood softens into whispers and "cherry reds." The final line, "Kiss me sweetly till I'm dead," blends pleasure with death, so the ending is both tender and a little unsettling. The overall mood is raw, sensual, and darkly playful, with the rhymes giving it a chant-like pull.