#123 Kevin Brophy 'Teeth'

#123 ‘Teeth’

She is amused that I can’t take my teeth out

and slip them back in again.

Each child is to see a dentist today,

their teeth are on their minds.

They smile a lot in grimaces to show me

what they’ve got in their mouths.

One boy comes back from his visit

bloody mouthed, three teeth taken out.

Silent with a mouthful of cotton wool

and the air of someone who’s survived

an accident, he goes home to lie down.

Another boy has a pet goanna at school.

He uses a stick like an animal trainer,

knocking it on the creature’s head

to let it know that he is here.

Sandy circles are carved into its tough hide,

and head, bony for that stick.

It eats live cockroaches and praying mantises

he tells me, and its teeth are perfect.