It was kindergarten.
The creepy guy on lunch duty
pulled my teeth out with a wrench.
They fell out in a clump
of enamel and gum.
Still, I felt convinced
they wouldn’t notice.
I lost my teeth again –
the four front ones on top.
They remained in my mouth
with Scotch tape, held down.
My teeth are so loose
they protrude at all angles;
My lips have parted,
forever alone.
It’s weird. In dreams
I’ll be endlessly falling,
my throat slit,
a child’s voice calling,
but I only wake up scared–
delirious and delusional–
when my fangs are not bared
and able to reflect the moon.
*Dreams of lost teeth commonly symbolize feelings of insecurity, loss, or transformation.
I have always been interested in the concept of dream interpretation, yet I am always going
back and forth between believing and not believing the accuracy of a real-life translation.
However, I have been dreaming about losing my teeth for as long as I can remember. Starting
in elementary school and continuing into the present day, I have had the lingering fear that I will
one day soon be without my teeth.
The hard thing about this constant worry is that I am afraid I will never be able to rid my mind of
it. Teeth are so often the focus of my dreams that I spend my waking hours thinking of them too.
Unfortunately, this leads to more of the same dreams. I cannot stop the cycle.
It is for no other reason than my recurring dreams that I wrote this poem. On some level, I think I
expected it to be a form of catharsis. In this aspect, I believe I have failed. I have simply
confirmed how much time I spend thinking about my teeth. I am perpetuating the cycle.
Jordan Eve Morral
(Image is of the author)
Saragun Springs 
Jordan Eve
Obsessions are cyclones in the mind. A whopper of a twister happens here. The timing of the lines drives this along at a paradoxical contolled mania.
Excellent work this week. We look forward to more!
Leila
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A stark reminder of the mischief (malevolence) that our subconscious levies on us. When I began reading, I wasn’t sure where the poem was going. I confess it was a relief to know that some freakish creature didn’t lurk on playgrounds tearing the actual teeth out of actual children’s actual mouths. Still, this is a disturbing verse. Well done!
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Jordan Eve
Poetry is music in words and this piece has a wonderful mix of tones.
Conversational, nightmarish, lighthearted, psychological, humorous, obsessional, calm and analytical, everyday and outlandish. A wonderfully mixed bag, and all held together with unity, too! It adds up to a great sense of personality in the (word) music.
The irregular rhyme scheme works really well, and the coda, or final reflection/s, are a great switch. The wonderfully understated ending of this piece hits its mark at all levels, thought-provoking and abrupt in the right way.
Leila and I are privileged to bring some of your poetry and prose to the select, cutting-edge audience of the Springs. It used to be called “the avant-garde,” and now it is called the wise ones in the bunch. We look forward to seeing more of your work very soon…
Dale
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