Teeth

Gold cherry

By Jane Hyphen

Sun, 27 May 2018
  • 3606 reads
14 comments
 

 

Teeth, pale stones planted deep

In pits of fleshy pink, glistening

Within the black hole, the orifice

Of sustenance, speech and breath

Blankets of tongues bristling

Along the hard edges of fangs

Old tombs, yellowed lantern lengths

Perfect teeth nailed to tracks

Angelic teeth that glinted as they sang

Pious songs, lipstick stained   

Chatting, chattering in the cold

Grinding in stress and dreams

Wearing out, rotting teeth

Mended, soldered with silver and gold

Infant buds of pearls, spotless

Loosening, cast and kept in jars

Teeth sinking into farmed flesh

Barbecued, raw inside, noxious

Angry jaws threaten in a snarl

To bite or yell or propel spit

Bad teeth, damaged and gnarled

Old teeth fade like old hair

Turning grey, failing and falling out

Moribund jaws lonely and quiet

Too weak to crunch to chew

Tired for talking, liquid diet

Teeth persisting in a grave

Immortal in the earth

As flesh and bone decay

 

 

Certificate 12
Poem

Comments

Submitted by celticman on

yep, bit of bite.  and you never even used the word 'snaggly', which is a bit of alright. 

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

I'd never heard that word before celticman. I just looked it up, one of those trendy, children's storybook words for describing homeless giant's teeth. Thanks for commenting.

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Encircling teeth, young or old, should help to keep the gabbling tongue still and imprisoned sometimes! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Yes, very true Rhiannon, some people cannot seem to stop gossiping or they are so uncomfortable with silence that they produce endless flimsy comments. Silence is golden. Thanks for commenting. 

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Thanks for the cherries x

 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

"infant buds of pearls" wonderfully conjurs the excitement of first teeth coming through. The agonies this can cause and then near the end as you say "failing and falling out" the ffffff sounds of false teeth

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

False teeth, yes I couldn't bring myself to include those, something creepy about them. We used to back onto a small cemetary where badgers would dig up bones, brass coffin rings and once some false teeth were in a pile of freshly dug soil!

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Submitted by fatboy74 on

This wonderful ode to gnashers is our Facebook/Twitter pick of the day. Please like and share.

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Thanks for pick of daysmiley

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

These teeth seem like witnesses to a short story of decay and putrefaction. Nicely done, Jane. I'm hoping mine hang around long enough to keep my bones company.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Ha, yes it's not a nice though losing them is it. I brush my dog's teeth every night now aswell since he's turned ten recently and might outlive his gnashers.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Jane,

what I like about this poem is that you've covered every angle on the subject of teeth.

My favourite lines are:-

Angelic teeth that glinted as they sang

Pious songs, lipstick stained

Chatting, chattering in the cold

Grinding in stress and dreams.

Very imaginative.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Thanks Jenny for your lovely comment. Sometimes it's interesting to write something about the mundane things in life, the things we take for granted.