I greet the morn with cheek ballooning west –
Alas, no beard to hide the swollen site
I grant I’d like a doublet and a vest
In which to hide my face malformed by night.
‘Twas though I gazed upon a Monk of Chip
When I did quickly seek the mirror’s view,
The lower jaw, the gum, the puffy lip
Confirmed what feeling fingers felt askew.
Good Will may find this sonnet sorely lacking,
And chipmunks may be laughing at my cheek,
But toothache sires extreme poetic slacking,
And dental bills will surely make me freak!
You know how Murphy’s Law stops by to smile?
Sheesh. It’s hanging ’round for quite a while.
* * *
Perhaps I’ll need to take to favorite chair –
A cloth upon my cheek and seeing red
In view are laptop, notebook*, art so fair –
To quell discomfort and not take to bed.
Indeed, with FAFSA due and neatly soused
(Might I mean an alcoholic cure?)
Perhaps like magic if I’m amply doused
The chipmunk cheek I may at will endure.
Alas, the pain is not so quickly eased!
A call to Dental Demons is in store;
I turn to verse (though poets are not pleased)
As Shakespeare spins in grave and cries “No More!”
And this the month for Paz and Rich (and Hell?) –
Neruda might emerge to make me well…
*The notebook is from a company called Miro. In the interest of full disclosure, they sent me a few journals to try out. They’re pretty, and they’re pretty cool.
With the unforeseen as yet unresolved dental incident + maternal duty required on the FAFSA and CSS, I may be reduced to terse verse and rhyme crime for a brief time. Stay tuned. If nothing else, it ought to encourage exploration of real poetry online or at your local library. April is National Poetry Month. Sonnetize!
I’m so impressed! I can’t write poetry and I usually don’t even understand it. But yours made me laugh. Hope your tooth feels better and doesn’t break the bank. I love your red splashes and the stiletto book holder.
The stiletto actually weighs a TON, Pauline. It’s sculpture… that I use as a bookend… 😉 (Ouch. NO CAN SMILE today!)
Be better soon, and at least you can write/joke about it.
Thanks, Paul. Sadly, at Shakespearean expense, and God knows what other expense. (Eek. I’ll freak.)
I love you. I’d forgotten about poetry month. Gauntlet thrown!
You know how I love that gauntlet, Kitch. The half-drunk poetry challenge for the second half of April? 😉
You had me at “Monk of Chip.” Love it!
Sending you some of the baby’s Orajel through the wires. Hang in there, D! xo
Baby Orajel! Why didn’t I think of that???
Genius. And so sorry about your tooth. Hope you’re doing better today!
Thanks… Get ready for another poetic aberration… And something for you to look forward to – in about 15 years…
Roses are red, violets are blue,
If your tooth isn’t better, I think you should sue.
Are you reading Dr. Sue-ss?
Must we set the lawyers loose?
Even with my Chipmunk Cheek,
My dear dentist took a peek.
He’s the best and I’ll go back –
Once the Kid Stuff is on track!
(See what happens when I rhyme? Bubbling forth near all the time? Shall we go for random verses, mixing Franco-Russian curses? Will I sonnetize for days? What if all this rhyming stays???)