Aren’t we all a little predatory?
With our ambiguous teeth
Cuspid fangs erupting
Braced into perfection
While other teeth are reaped
Because fangs mark all the difference
Between smile and snarl
Between grasp and tear
And impotent gnash
And nocturnal bruxism
The nighttime grinding
Of blunted molars
The omnivore ones
The everything-eaters
The all consuming
Lineage of crowns
And plural roots
Vestigial wisdom
Prone to infection
Loosening and loss
Sleep disturbed by ravening wolves
And gnawing bone-hunger
Oh my gosh, who would have thought, a perfect pearl wrought of bruxism, nightmare, hunger, and knowledge woven of words and set like a dentist’s dream on the page. Bravo! Please continue consuming whatever it was you ate before bedtime the many nights you wrote and straightened these gnashing, grinding, consuming words.
Rae, I love your fantastic poem. And Jean has just said all the rest I wish I’d thought of! Terrific! Jeanette G.
Thank you, Jean and Jeanette!