teeth

by Paul Kavanagh

Bad teeth, broken teeth, cracked teeth
Here is a modern poem about teeth
Teeth that are decayed, teeth that are missing
Pound wrote a poem about an old bitch gone
In the teeth.
And he was not the only one
Eliot?s Lil was missing all of her teeth.
Teeth has symbols, teeth has metaphors,
Yellow teeth, black teeth, but no white teeth,
This is not a poem about white teeth.
Candy floss teeth, coffee teeth, nicotine teeth.
Caesar?s teeth were the first thing to hit the Senate floor.
Juvenal?s teeth, Trimalchian teeth.
Teeth without Enamel.
Samuel Beckett had his teeth pulled to cure the pain,
Through his teeth being decayed.
A kick in the teeth, bleeding gums, diseased teeth.
Teeth rotten, rotten to the bleeding core.
Exposed nerves, fulgurating nerves.
Sexpots? teeth, drugfiends? teeth, thieves? teeth,
Teeth are trojan horses that lie in wait.

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~ This piece was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 and was filed under Poetry, Writing. You can make comments on it below. ~