To Calm You

A Poem For Everyone With Teeth

If you are sitting in a dental chair right now,

check your shirt pocket.
You will find a note from 
me to you.

If I could be there with you,
I would tell you how happy I am 
for you.    That you are in 
the safe hands of 
good-hearted people
who want so much to 
do right by you.

Not to cause you 
a moment’s discomfort. You must believe me.
Would you like a blanket? A pillow? Ah, that’s better.

And what’s more, 
you cannot imagine how

diligently
obsessively

most dentists are trying.

all. day. long.

Not in a   good-enough  way, no.
But in an unrealistically, devotedly,
Doggedly striving to be    
          
            p e r f e c t  way

And all the while, listen as they make 
the most casual conversation
about last night’s movie or recipe or the weather.
Telling the same amusing anecdotes
About their dog or children
over and over, just to distract and 

calm you.

As they pass sharp instruments to their assistant, quickly
back and forth in an intense four-handed surgical 
pantomime 
where two people try to share         

                     one mind.

And a lot of hand signals. 

Ambidextrous, quick-thinkers, slowly going deaf
listening to high-pitched motors 
at 50,000 rpms
alongside Top 40 tunes.   Hunched
from standing on their heads
and straining their necks

at odd angles
holding them just so—
for far too long
as they stare at the miniature
masterpiece--the sculpture--they have just made:

       Cusp of Carabelli 

Illuminated in bright light,
a beauty in shade A2.
She must be natural, not 
too tall 

In such perfect occlusion

         impossibly 

tiny--you will forget 
she is even there.

Imperceptibility is the ultimate goal. 
And strength.
And longevity (please lord!)

But, in order to create this masterpiece, 
the materials must be kept absolutely dry

inside a continuously flooding room 

                                   the size of an orange.

Hence all the cotton rolls—I do apologize! 
Everyone hates us.

Everyone says so:
No offense but, I really hate… (yes, yes, we know)

None taken.
We’ll gladly do this.

For you.