EverydayAngelKarie
Joined: 07 Mar 2007
Posts: 761
Location: Lakewood, CA
|
Damaged Gum Tissue
I stare at the ceiling
comparing dots to splotches
counting the number of tiles that it takes to get to the doorway.
A sublime hopscotch
when I form a peace sign with my hand
pretending my index and middle fingers are legs
and I hop, skip, and jump my way to the door
like the peace sign is human,
like the upside is down.
I wait for you.
You come into the room quickly
and unkindly say hello,
you tell me to open wide
and then jab me in the gums
with a syringe that seems monstrous,
but it’s armed with such a tiny needle.
And apparently it’s filled with something that’s supposed to make me numb…
and it does, as far as my mouth is concerned,
but I can still feel you breathing all close to my ear,
muffled hums through your protective mask,
sounding like Darth Vader,
and I find myself hoping that you would never try out for American Idol.
You’re too old anyway.
But, back to your breathing,
honestly, I don’t mind this,
the sound of another human,
breathing, humming, enjoying life
while my teeth are being scraped and jarred
and poked and prodded and abused
with metal tools that look deadly.
And earlier you were telling me that I’m not nice to my teeth!?
I think about laughing and telling you admirably, “You’re so fuckin’ morbid, man!”
You continue scraping my molars,
and I tell myself that I’m gonna write a poem about this
as I try to sink down comfortably
into the slippery leather chair.
Your humming starts again,
and I am feeling relaxed.
Fluorescent lamp of sunlight beating down on my forehead like a day at the beach.
I continue staring at the ceiling,
comparing dots to splotches
counting the number of tiles that it takes to get to the doorway.
A sublime hopscotch
that leads from my teeth
to your hand
to my wallet.
(this was an assignment for my poetry class, it went really well, got it critiqued today, read it in front of the class, it was mucho fun. hope you people enjoy it too. also, im not confident that this was the correct category to put this poem in)
|