Two About Teeth by Martha Christina

1
My neighbor calls
to account for why
he hasn’t called:
yesterday, indulging
in a cookie for lunch
dessert, he broke
a tooth, a soft cookie,
he says, and I hear both
appreciation and betrayal
in his voice.

2
My father spoke proudly
of his strong teeth, a
triumph over rural poverty,
with dental care far beyond
his parents’ means. When
he first saw a dentist, he
was away from the farm,
earning a salary, enough
each month to rent a room
above the dentist’s office.
Their friendship led to
an examination, gratis,
a word they’d both
learned in college. Given
my father’s history, his teeth
amazed his dentist friend who
made and displayed a model
of my father’s perfect bite.



Martha Christina has published two collections: Staying Found (Fleur-de-lis Press) and Against Detachment (Pecan Grove Press). Her work appears in earlier issues of Red Eft Review, and recently in Star 82 Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Tiny Seed Journal’s Pollinator Project. Born and raised in Indiana, she now lives in Bristol, Rhode Island.