enamel eruption
my teeth | are violent | fearful
of the day | i speak
one tooth | is lodged | in my aorta
soft | bloody | in case | she ever
wants to form | her own | words
mama and i | don’t talk about it
the trail | of molars
i leave | in the hallway
hoping | one of them | forgets
to practice | pious forgiveness
when i am 24 | ten years
after he wired | my mouth shut
i go | into his backyard
plant | my four canines
into | the vengeful earth
tell them | i hope they grow
into beasts | that eat him
alive.
"enamel eruption" originally appeared in Enamel (Bottlecap Press, 2023)
