focus on the pain originating in your molar
floating heavenward like an angel
made of nerves wrapped around broken stained glass
up through your hard palate
lodging between your ear and jaw
wonder for ten seconds if it’s cancer or an abscess
then opt for tmj because you’re tired and you
need to sleep
this is a memento that death leaves in your crib
to remind you every single day that you are not
in fact, going to live forever
or maybe he colluded with the tooth fairy
when you lost your first tooth
touched that soft bloody spot
in your gums
you obsessively kept
your children’s teeth
even the dog’s
——
Words and Feathers 